Coke and Chocolate
by theyre after my lucky charms
Summary: Finding themselves alone on a Friday in Chloe's living room with coke and chocolate in the kitchen is an oppurtunity that presented itself on its own. Chloe simply decided to take advantage of the situation. Let's see if Alek can handle it.
1. Seduction

**Well, hello there, reader. I must inform you that this is my first fanfiction ever, and I would really appreciate any criticism, whether it is positive or not. Thanks so much! And I hope you enjoy this.**

**DISCLAIMER: considering the fact that this is fanfiction, I believe that it is safe to assume the following, but, just in case… I don't own The Nine Lives of Chloe King or any of the characters. Although I wish I did. Alek and Chloe need to get together, already!**

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry for leaving you so abruptly. This conference literally came out of nowhere," Chloe's mother was speaking with her in a hurried tone as she rushed around the first floor of their humble San Francisco abode, making sure that she didn't forget anything before she left.

"Mom, don't worry about me. I'm 16, remember? I'll be fine. I promise," Chloe assured her mother, watching her run around frantically.

"I know, I know, it's just… Oh, Chloe. It's just this is the first time I've left you all alone without anyone," by now, her mother had stopped fretting to look at her little girl that was no longer _that_ little.

"Don't worry, mom. I'll be fine, I promise. I'll be safe and sound at home. It's like this house comes with its own personal watch system," she smiled to herself, knowing that a certain someone on her roof would hear her and understand the little joke that her mother wouldn't.

"Alright, alright. I trust you to not do anything, right?" Chloe hummed a 'yes' in response. "And no wild parties, included?" Her mother lifted her eyebrow along with her expectant tone.

"Oh, no promises on that one. Amy, Paul and I might just completely tear this place to shreds," a smile accompanied her sarcastic tone, once again reassuring her mother that she was not planning on straying from her status as the "angelic daughter" any time soon.

"Alrighty, then. Well, you know the house rules." A nod. "You know where everything is that you need." Another nod. "You know where I put the money for you for this weekend." Another nod. "You know where the extra money is, just in case." Another nod. "You know all of the emergency numbers." Another nod. "You know the name of my hotel, and my number, and…"

"Mom! Calm down, I'll be fine, I promise. I know the drill. Now, go, before you miss your train!" Chloe started to practically shove her mother out of the door with a smile, "Have a good time! And good luck!"

"I'll call when I get to the hotel. Even though it'll probably be around one or two in the morning. But it's fine. Tomorrow's a Saturday and you'll probably be up anyways."

The taxi that had been waiting there for a while now honked, trying to help Chloe pry her mother from the house.

"You know me too well, mom. Now go!"

"Love you! " Her mom cried as she raced down the stairs with her suitcase.

"Implied!" Chloe cried back. She then watched her mother climb into the taxi and drive off. Once the car was out of sight, Chloe walked back into the house and decided to turn off all of the lights except for some of the ones in the kitchen. She then plopped down on her couch and turn on the television.

Conveniently enough, as Chloe surfed through the channels, she fell upon a soccer game. They were showing some match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Tottenham didn't stand a chance in that game.

Recently, Chloe had taken a liking to English Premier League Soccer. It might have had something to do with a certain boy who was currently watching over her from the roof. Or the one that was currently walking down the stairs to join her in the living room.

Wait, what?

"Alek?" Chloe sat up from the couch.

"The one and only," oh, that damn British accent and his… sneakiness.. Gah! " Oh, and, no need to get so excited about my presence. I'm just a normal guy, really." His sarcastic cockiness was amusing, to be honest, but simultaneously irritating.

He was wearing the same clothes that he wore when she threw the basketball into the trash bin all the way across the hall. Damn him and his blonde hair that's always tousled ever so perfectly and his love of tight shirt that showed off his perfect biceps and his pants that he always wore just a little bit too low, making any sane girl curious…

"What are you doing, Alek?" Chloe inquired, snapping out of her trance as Alek made himself comfortable on the other side of the couch so that their legs were touching. Chloe tried to curl herself up a bit, but Alek's legs were too long to avoid any physical contact on the couch.

"What do you think I'm doing, silly? I'm protecting you, like always," although the majority of his voice was filled with humor, there was a kind of seriousness in the air of his words.

"Right, but don't you usually do that from my roof top? And not from my living room? And you know that this is called breaking and entering, right?" Chloe stared at him quizzically.

"True, but it's not breaking and entering if a certain someone left their window open. You know, I could have been an assassin waiting to get you alone and kill you."

"You could have been. But I know that you're always watching me."

A silence struck them as they both stared that the screen, slightly paying attention to the commentators, but they were both a bit too distracted by the other's presence to really hear what they were saying.

"So, I ask again, why are you in my living room and not on my roof? You usually 'protect' me from there…"

"Ah, yes, but, you see, right now, I'm not only protecting you from the Order."

"Oh, really, now?" Chloe readjusted herself so that she was facing him head on, feigning curiosity. Although she was, after all, interested what in the world brought her protector into her home, when he usually remained taunting her on her roof.

Not that she was complaining about the fact that he came into her house. She actually was developing some… romantic feelings toward the blonde. In all honesty, she just kept Brian around for the sake of making Alek jealous, or to at least hear him show some concern for her well-being outside of the whole Mai/ Uniter situation. However, if anyone were to ask about the truth of that statement, she would instantly deny, deny, deny.

"Tonight, I am saving you from having a boring evening all by your lonely self."

Chloe's eyes widened, reading a bit too far into that sentence.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. No parties, absolutely not. This house is a no partying zone. Absolutely out of the-" Alek stopped her in the middle of her ramble.

"Relax. I'm merely gracing you with my presence tonight, that's all. No parties. Scout's honor."

Chloe settled deeper into the couch, grumbling absolute nonsense to herself. Alek thought her heard her say something along the lines of "I bet you weren't even a scout" to which he just chuckled to himself and let her be.

"Oh, and, Jasmine had to take care of something, so you've gotten lucky. No training _and_ an entire evening with me? Do have any idea how many girls would leap at this oppurtunity?" Chloe couldn't help but let a chuckle escape her lips. Amy is going to flip when she tells her about this.

The silence continued as the two Mai stared at the screen in front of them.

"Is this the match where Man U kicks Tottenham Hotspur's butt?" He just received a nod in response. Had he known that Chloe like English soccer, or _football_, to use the proper name, he might have slipped in here much sooner and used that as an excuse to spend an evening with her.

Chloe and Alek sat on the couch watching the match in silence. Words were exchanged between each other while they laughed at the stupidity of one of the commentators or while they scolded the referees after a stupid call. Other than that, they were mostly focused on the presence of the other in silence. They both occasionally stole glances at one another, Alek a little more often. Never simultaneously, however, so there wasn't much blushing and looking away being done. Although Chloe could sometimes feel Alek's gaze lingering on her.

Halftime came around in the match, and both figures relaxed a bit, not realizing that they had tensed up while watching the game.

"So, do you want anything to drink? Or eat?" Chloe asked, turning to face him fully for the first time in a while.

"Uh, sure. What do you have?" Chloe got off of the couch and went to the kitchen with Alek following in suit, his footsteps never heard, as always.

"We've got…" Chloe trailed off as she scanned through the items in her fridge. "We've got a two-liter bottle of Coke, if that interests you!"

Alek leaned on the island in the middle of the kitchen, eying the bottle up and down as Chloe placed it on the counter, waiting for an approval.

"I dare you to chug some Coke from the bottle," Alek suddenly proposed, surprising Chloe, to say the least.

After contemplating the proposition, she looked at Alek. For once, it was she who was wearing the smug smile on her face.

"I don't need you to dare me for that to happen."

Chloe kept eye contact with Alek as she twisted the cap off of the bottle and got a better grip on it. She then tilted her head back as she covered the neck of the bottle with her lips and started drinking.

Alek had never seen anything so… sexy. The way Chloe's neck stretched out as she drank the liquid. The way her hair hung behind her, slipping even lower down her back than it usually did. Her eyes were closed as she drank. The entire image was so mesmerizing. And this side of her was certainly not one he had ever seen before.

After a while, Chloe put down the bottle and gasped for air. Alek listened as she breathed in and out, in and out, regaining her composure and equilibrium of breath.

Alek regained his own composure and looked at the bottle. A solid amount of the liquid had disappeared.

"Impressive."

"Aren't I always?" she smiled at him. And, either Alek was going insane, or Chloe added a little bit of flirtation to her smile.

She turned away from him and started looking through some of the drawers and cupboards until she came upon something in a package. Alek couldn't tell what it was until Chloe looked at him with it in hand.

"Chocolate?" she swayed back and forth as she waited for him to answer.

"Oh, Chloe, as if you even need to ask," Alek flashed her a grin that usually made the girls at school swoon and giggle, but seemed to have no effect on the girl in front of him.

Chloe broke off two chunks of chocolate from the bar and gave Alek one of them. He moved closer to her so that, while she was still leaning on the counter that ran against the wall, he was leaning on the island right across the aisle from her, no counter space keeping them apart.

They ate the chocolate in silence, Alek watching Chloe as she ate her piece as if she was in her own little realm. The effect she had on him from drinking the coke was still there, and watching her eat the chocolate wasn't exactly helping it subside.

While Alek was in his thoughts, Chloe was smiling inwardly, knowing exactly what kind of an effect she had on him with her shenanigans. She could see that, while she was seducing him, he was trying really hard to seduce her right back. Or to at least not be affected by it.

It's not like she planned on seducing him. The opportunity just so happened to present itself by chance. It's not like she expected him to pop into her living room once her mom left. You'd think after their run in with the boss would have made him stay away from the inside of her house while her mother was away (she hadn't been gone that long, after all. She could be on her way back because she'd forget something. And, whoops, look who's on our couch, mom!). It's not like she was planning to have their legs practically tangled up on the couch. It's not like she planned on being in such close proximity with him all night. Not that she was complaining.

The chocolate in her hands was ending, but it was also melting onto her fingers. _And the opportunities continue to present themselves_, she thought.

Making sure that Alek was watching her, she finished off her chocolate and glanced at her fingers to see how much chocolate was left. Her thumb, index and middle fingers were covered in it.

She first slowly put her middle finger into her mouth. She could see from the corner of her eye Alek straightened up, attentive and alert, as always. She finished licking off the chocolate and took her finger out of her mouth.

"That was some good chocolate, wasn't it, Alek?" She turned to him, eyes wide open feigning obliviousness.

"Uh, um," he cleared his throat as he straightened up a bit more against the counter, "yeah, milk chocolate is my favorite."

Chloe smiled at him, chuckling a bit, before she proceeded with her finger licking. She sucked off the chocolate from her index finger and her thumb. As she finished licking her thumb, she moaned quietly from the goodness of the chocolate.

And that was Alek's undoing.

Chloe was honestly not expecting what had happened next. This, she was not planning for.

Alek practically pounced on Chloe, pressing her back up against the counter. She didn't have time to respond to that before his lips came crashing down on hers.

Chloe moaned as she wrapped her arms around Alek's neck, trying to push them closer together. She responded to the kiss just as ferociously as Alek had initiated it. He wrapped his arms around her small waist, pulling her off of her feet and upwards, giving him better access to her lips by shrinking the height gap. Chloe fit so perfectly in his arms, as if they had been molded for each other at birth. Alek could hold her like this forever.

Oh dear goodness, she'd been dreaming of this moment since her pressed her back up against the wall in hallway. Well, this was certainly déjà vu.

Chloe let her left hand sneak up and tangle her fingers in his hair. God, it was so soft and full. And there was so much to grab onto. Alek continued to tighten his grasp on Chloe's waist and pulled her up so that she was sitting on the edge of the counter. He pushed her legs apart to get even closer to her, if that was even possible at this point. One of his arms snaked up her spine to her neck and his fingers tangled themselves in her long locks. His other hand remained on her back, but tugged her shirt up a little bit, so that he could rest his cold hand on her hot skin on the small of her back.

His touch sent shivers up Chloe's spine. Simultaneously, Alek and Chloe needed to pull away to replenish themselves with oxygen.

As their lips detached, they looked into each other's eyes with such fire that it took every ounce of Alek's will power not to pounce on Chloe again, even though he knew that neither of them could afford it at the momen, being just a bit too out of breath. Other than that, nothing in their positions had changed. They were still extremely close to each other in practically all aspects possible.

Their cat-like hearing abilities helped them hear the rapid heartbeat of the other. They listened to one another as the speed began to slowly diminish.

"Subtle," Chloe whispered to Alek, repeating her words from that encounter in the hallway where he almost kissed her for the first time.

"I wasn't trying to be," Alek winked at her, stressing his point and mocking himself a little bit in the process.

Chloe threw her head back in laughter, pulling herself away from Alek, but still remaining in pretty close contact. Her hands slid from out of his hair and onto his shoulders.

"Unbelievable!" Chloe continued to laugh, until Alek couldn't help but quietly join in.

"Come on. Half time is about to end and Man U has yet to kick ass," Alek placed a gentle kiss on Chloe's lips, lingering for a moment, before backing away and letting Chloe hop off of the counter. As Chloe put the coke and the chocolate back to their designated places, Alek settled back onto the couch and turned up the volume. Chloe soon joined him on the couch. Just before she was about to sit down into the positions they were in at the beginning of the evening, she felt a pair of strong and warm arms snake around her waist and pull her down into a muscular chest.

"Did you really think you were going to get away that easily?" Alek inquired.

Instead of satisfying him with a reply, Chloe simply gave him a 'Pft… I'm totally innocent, what are you talking about?' smile and made herself comfortable in Alek's arms, placing her head right in the crook of his neck.

"Mmm…" Alek inhaled Chloe's scent once she was still, "you smell _very_ good."

Chloe looked up at him quizzically.

"Do you have some sort of script you follow and use for every girl you meet?" she challenged.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and found out for yourself," Alek finished with a smirk as he placed his attention back to the match.

"Oh, and, Chloe," she looked up to see his face very close to hers. Him and his close talking… "Something tells me we're going to be very good friends."

"Alek!"

Her giggles were silenced quickly by Alek's lips.

** Well, that's that! I really hope you liked it! I did try really hard to get rid of all grammar mistakes and plot mistakes, but if I missed something, please let me know! And please review! They're always appreciated!**

** Also, I'm not sure if I should continue this story, making it like a series of vignettes or a plot-story where each chapter can stand on its own, so, if you think I should, let me know! Thanks **

** For anyone who was wondering, the soccer match that I was referring to was a match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur on April 25****th****, 2009, where Man U won 5-2, scoring all of their goals in the second half. **


	2. Breakfast

**Gah! I know I took forever. I apologize. Part of the time was spent in chaotic packing/ traveling/ unpacking. Then another part consisted of figuring out whether or not I wanted to continue this or just leave it. But I received so many lovely comments that I decided to continue. Also, a great thank you to Kalilong7 who helped me a great deal figuring out what to write for this. Thank you!**

**Anyways, without further ado, I present the next chapter of Coke and Chocolates. **

Although the game was an interesting one, Chloe had already seen it. She managed to watch some of it, but she was just so comfortable with Alek's arms wrapped around her and she felt so cozy snuggled into him that she ended falling asleep in his arms on the couch.

This didn't go unnoticed by Alek. He knew that he would have some sort of effect on her, but he thought that the effect would cause him to smirk, not to look at her and think how innocent and just… beautiful she looked while she was relaxed.

She had been sitting on his lap, legs spread out on the couch, and her head was tucked into the crook of his neck. He was practically cradling her like a baby.

Alek had decided to finish watching the match by himself, occasionally allowing himself to get distracted by the image that Chloe was in his arms. Once it was over, he turned off the TV and decided that it was time for both of them to go to bed.

He wrapped one arm around her waist and he hooked the other under her leg. He slowly got up, making sure that he didn't startle Chloe awake. That, unfortunately, did not go as planned.

Chloe moaned and started to wake in Alek's arms. He was already on the first stair towards her room. Instinctively, her arms snaked around Alek's neck to secure her position in his arms.

"Sh, sh. Go back to sleep, I've got you," Alek assured her, whispering to not wake her even further. He got a sleepy moan for Chloe in response, making him smile. Not smirk, but smile.

He finally made it up to Chloe's room and managed to put Chloe's feet down onto the ground, but still support her with the arm that remained around her waist. Thankfully, she was still half asleep. Although she was very close to drifting into her dreams, she still managed to kind of hold her own, making Alek's job of pulling back the covers without have Chloe fall much easier.

Once that was accomplished, Alek slipped his arm under Chloe's knees once again and lifted her before placing her on the bed. Chloe instantly curled up into a tight ball, but she was wearing jeans and a scarf and a thick sweater and Alek knew that that was not the most comfortable way to fall asleep. So, in a loving, not a lusting, way, he stripped her of her clothes, leaving her in just a tank top and her undergarments.

In his defense, he was supposed to be protecting her. And he was tired himself. So what better way to protect her while being sleepy than with his arms wrapped tightly around her under the covers?

At least that's what he told himself when he slipped under the blanket and collected Chloe in his arms after he turned off the lights.

Chloe, however, had a clearer conscious about this and was more than willing for this to happen. Provided, her judgment wasn't in its ideal state since she was so tired, but it already seemed like a habit to snuggle into Alek's body, even though they shared their first kiss merely an hour ago.

He was just so warm and comforting. He made her feel safe. But it wasn't the boring kind of safe. Dating him, or being with him, at least, wasn't safe. He saw through all of her bull shit and he knew her for the raw Chloe that she was, whether she liked it or not. He knew her inside and out, flaws and all, and yet he still wanted her. But she still felt safe with him. Maybe because she knew that he knew her better than anyone else. Maybe because she knew that he would risk his own life for hers. Maybe because she knew that he didn't see her for some damsel in distress but still felt the need to protect her. She felt safe with him, and it was pretty scary.

Although it was dark in the room, Alek could still see Chloe clearly, thanks to his cat-night vision. He admired how the soft light from the moon fell on her, keeping half of her face in the dark. He'd never seen a more beautiful sight in his life. Chloe seemed to be so relaxed and peaceful when she slept, especially in this light. Alek could spend days just looking at this image in front of him. He contemplated taking a picture with his phone, but decided against because she knew that no camera, especially a crappy phone camera, would do Chloe any justice. It would even be an insult to her.

Chloe moved in Alek's arms, snuggling her head even more into his chest. Inhaling her scent, Alek smiled to himself, readjusting his grip on Chloe's body. He could feel his eyelids dropping downwards but he just wouldn't let them fall. He had fought off this feeling for so many nights on Chloe's roof or in the tree across her window, but he'd never been surrounded by warmth and soft covers before, making this battle the most difficult. But, on the other hand, he never had such a sight in front of him before making him want to stay away.

Unfortunately, the battle did not last long, as Alek's eyelids finally fell down while he was taking in Chloe's smell.

Chloe woke up from one of the best nights of sleep that she has ever gotten. She didn't want to open her eyes, but she could see the sunlight through her eyelids. She groaned and was just about to stretch until she realized that she was being restrained by a pair of muscular arms covered in a thin layer of some soft cloth. Her eyes instantaneously shot open, only to be met by the sharp and attractive features of Alek's face. His lips were slightly parted, allowing the oxygen to fill his lungs and let his chest rise and fall against Chloe's body. He was sleeping on his side, and so was Chloe, which was probably making the arm under Chloe's waist slightly numb.

Chloe was slightly confused as to how she got into her bed and how she got into this undressed state. She tried to remember and vague images of being carried up the stairs and leaning on Alek successfully entered her mind. She smiled sweetly at Alek, even though he couldn't see it.

She wanted to lie here in bed for a while and admire Alek like he admired her before he fell asleep, even though she didn't know about that. He was just so innocent in front of Chloe right now. It wasn't something that Chloe had ever expected to see. She always knew him to be the guy that would tell her with a serious face about the perils of her role in the world of the Mai or about the dangers of being careless. When he wasn't doing that, he walked around with such a smug expression on his face that Chloe couldn't help but roll her eyes every time she saw it.

But now, this man that was lying next to her, with her, even, was just a familiar stranger. It was a side of Alek that she never got to see before, but was glad that she was able to this morning. His lips were tugged up a little bit to form a gentle smile and Chloe hoped that, because of what happened last night between the two of them, she would see that gentle smile more often.

There was a strand of loose hair resting on Alek's forehead that Chloe was dying to push away. But, she knew that, if she were to touch his hair, Alek would wake. And Chloe knew that he needed his sleep. She knew that he has been outside of her room for nights on end, getting no sleep and watching over her. As much as she did appreciate the protection, she knew that right now, in the daylight, she would be able to protect herself, especially when she was in such a good mood. And he really needed his sleep. Who knows when he'll decide to slip under her covers and protect her from there again!

Chloe realized that she was being tempted by a strand of his hair and decided that it was time for her to get out of bed.

Although Alek's hold on Chloe was close, it was also limp from his status of being asleep, so it wasn't difficult for Chloe to gently slip out of his grasp and out of bed. She tip toed, even though with her cat-like steps it wasn't necessary, out of her room, making sure that she didn't wake Alek in the process.

She eventually managed to slip downstairs quietly and not wake Alek in the process. At least, she hoped she succeeded. Chloe found herself alone in the kitchen and decided to put herself to good use and make breakfast for herself and Alek.

Alek woke up to cool sheets, although he remembered falling asleep to warm ones. He automatically sat up with panic written all over his face when he didn't see Chloe in the room. Within 10 seconds, he managed to go from slightly concerned to full out panic mode until he heard a crash of something coming from downstairs, accompanied by a word of profanity from a certain blonde Mai.

Alek crashed against the pillows, waiting for his heart rate to return to normal. _Damn that Chloe, she didn't even leave a note_, Alek thought to himself. He abruptly sat up, in shock of his own thoughts. He was acting as if she was his. As if she had to report back to him. With this completely irrational sense of possession. He didn't even have any idea as to where they stood at the moment. Were they friends? More than friends? Did Chloe slip out of bed to avoid any conversations about what happened last night?

Before he could reach panic mode again, he chose to get out of bed and head downstairs to see what kind of a mess the object of his affection created. When he got down, the sight that greeted him was absolutely breathtaking.

Chloe was listening to a light summer love song. She had cleaned whatever mess had appeared and was bouncing on the balls of her feet to the beat, shaking her head from side to side, mouthing the words as the singer sang them. She was making what apparently was French toast. At least, that's what Alek thought.

Alek could stand, leaning against the wall, and watch Chloe dance and cook all day long. She was just so striking.

After a while, Alek decided to join Chloe in her dance. He pushed himself off of the wall and made his way silently towards Chloe. As she put the spatula in her hand onto the counter, Alek took her hand and pulled her into him and began to dance with her.

_My girl, I'd cross the whole world for someone like you__  
><em>_Oh oh, no matter where I go, oh oh,__  
><em>_My unpredictable girl, you're impossible girl,__  
><em>_You know that it's true, oh oh, no matter what you do__  
><em>_I'd cross the world for someone like you__  
><em>_Someone like you; a girl like you__  
><em>_Someone like you_

Boy, did those lyrics reflect what Alek was feeling as he twirled Chloe around. Not a word was uttered between them, but Alek was wearing a smile the size of the sun on his face and Chloe was laughing so freely. Alek reeled Chloe back into him and put his hand on her lower back. They swayed at a quick pace, just being silly and having a blast. Chloe laughed and threw her head back, her hair tickling Alek's hand.

Once she looked back up, they were swaying slowly in the living room, food being the last thing on their mind. It's like they had melted into an alternate universe. Not even the music was reaching them now. Alek took his hand out of Chloe's, keeping the other hand on her back, and brushed away a stray lock of curls, tucking it behind her ear.

"Good morning," he whispered before leaning in a pressing his lips gently to Chloe's. He could feel her smiling into the kiss as she responded. They pulled away for only a moment.

"Yes, it is," she whispered back as she stretched to meet Alek in another long kiss.

"You know, if you two keep doing that, your French toast is going to burn the entire house down." Both of the blonde Mais turned around to find none other than Jasmine with a smirk on her face as she stood in the kitchen and flipped the toast, finishing what Chloe had started.

"Oh, hello there, cousin. Nice of you to drop by. Yes, please, do come in. You're not interrupting anything at all." Alek's classic trademarked smirk was back on his face, but he still had no immediate plans to let go of the girl that made genuinely smile that was in his arms at the moment.

"Gee, Alek, thanks for the hospitality in a home that's not yours…" Jasmine drifted off, making a point and counteracting Alek's attempt at being… Well, a smart Alek. "Morning, Chloe!"

"Hey, Jasmine," Chloe gently left her spot in Alek's arms and starting making her way towards Jasmine. "You know, you really don't have to do that, I can finish it off."

"Nonsense!" Jasmine replied. "I'm making a few extras for myself anyways." She redirected her attention to Alek for a moment. "Alek, go home and change into some training clothes. We're going on a jog for some light training this morning once we're done with breakfast."

"Yes, _Valentina_," Alek mocked. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Alek quickly pecked Chloe on the lips before rushing out of the door.

A silence struck the two girls as Jasmine proceeded to cook. The table was already set so Chloe just leaned awkwardly against the counter.

"So, uh, you and my cousin, huh?" Jasmine chuckled. It was a side that Chloe hadn't seen before.

"What?" Chloe shrugged defensively. "I couldn't help myself!"

Both girls laughed in response, not knowing that Alek was still within hearing distance, grinning like a little boy in a candy shop.

**Viola! I have done it! I'm so sorry it took forever, but, hey, better late than never!**

**For anyone who is interested, the song was Someone Like You by The Summer Set.**

**Just as a heads up, to anyone who is interested in an action filled, serious plot line, you're not getting any of that here, sorry. I'm not very good at writing action sequences, and I really just want this story to act as a fluffy, just for fun, Alek and Chloe story. Each chapter can stand as a one-shot, but they are all connected by plot, kind of. At least that's what I'm aiming for. **

**Anyways, thank you for reading, and I would really appreciate it if you could review this chapter/ this story. Thank you! **

**Oh, and I'll try my best to update the next chapter as soon as possible!**


	3. Running

**Ha! 2 days! That's a record! Thank goodness for summer and being locked up at home all day long! Woot! Always fun… yeah… totally…**

**Anyways, thank you so much for the reviews. As always, you have no idea what they mean to me, really. And thank you so much, once again, to Kalilong7, for helping me out with ideas and for just PM-ing me, because, if not, I probably wouldn't have continued working on this.**

**Anyways, without further ado, I present to you chapter 3!**

They were running along the water. You could see the Golden Gate Bridge from their current position. It wasn't raining, but it was very cloudy. And very windy. Which was good for right now.

The three Mai were all panting by this point in time. They had been running non-stop for a solid hour by now. The previous hour was spent jumping over dumpsters in alleyways and scaling the rooftops of San Francisco. They might have some form of "super powers" as Paul loves to put it, but they've still got their limits. Which were pretty close to being reached at the moment.

Jasmine and Chloe were running together, occasionally exchanging words or comments ("Oh my goodness, did you see those pants? And he's willing to walk around in public in _those_?"). Chloe was feeling on top of the world. Although she knew she was tired, she felt like she could run forever with the amount of giddiness built up inside of her.

She didn't know how to exactly define her relationship with Alek. Their evening together was perfect, and in the morning, it didn't seem like Alek regretted anything, and Chloe most definitely didn't, so she probably couldn't call them "just friends". But were they dating now? Or just in a passing phase? Or is this supposed to be a pre-dating phase?

But being with Alek just felt so… right. It seemed like it had been a long time coming, and she was glad that the moment had finally arrived. And she woke up to such a beautiful sight this morning.

Jasmine heard Chloe sigh, knowing that once again, Chloe was lost in her daydreams. Probably about Alek. How the girl managed to let her mind wander to her cousin and not trip was a wonder that might stun Jasmine for a very long time.

Jasmine was happy for the two of them. It took them long enough to get together. When she saw Alek's face when Chloe threw his basketball into the trash, she prayed to Baset that Chloe was Mai. Coincidence? I think not.

Jasmine knew that the two of them had yet to talk things out and figure out whether or not they wanted a label. She was just glad that the wait and anticipation was over. She was getting really annoyed with Alek's emotion reflecting what Chloe was doing, especially if she was with Brian, and how he would lose his mind if he didn't know where she was.

Thank goodness that's over. Knowing them, while they will still be in honeymoon phase, which might be a while, those two will be attached at the hip.

Alek, meanwhile, was having more or less the same thoughts and conversation with the voice in his head as Chloe was, except his was more panic-stricken than giddy.

What if Chloe didn't say anything this morning because she didn't want to hurt his feelings? What if she regretted what happened the night before? Was that why she slipped out of bed when he was still sleeping? When was she going to let him down? Was she going to let him down? He couldn't make his mind up about wanting her to let him down sooner, or to lengthen their time together, just for a little while, just so that he could know what could have been.

Little did that silly boy know that he really did need to stop worrying himself. He really needed to cut it out. Like, right now.

The three of them finally stopped, deciding that there had been enough training for one day. None of them realized how truly tired they were until their legs stopped moving.

They were all panting, almost like dogs on a hot summer day, except for Alek, who suddenly felt a burst of energy once he saw Chloe in the state that she was in.

Her cheeks were all red and her eyes were closed, as if she was regaining or recharging herself. It was seriously starting to frustrate Alek how Chloe seemed to become more and more beautiful by the hour. He suddenly felt the need to be her knight in shining armor, protecting her from weariness.

"Ugh, I don't think we're going to need to train for a few weeks. I don't think I'll be able to," Chloe chuckled.

"Sorry, Chloe, but that's not exactly an option. We can, however, cancel training tonight!" Jasmine smirked. Looks like Alek had taught her something throughout the years, after all.

"What? You planned on training _again_?" Chloe exclaimed. This girl was completely out of her mind!

"Calm down, Chloe. I was simply kidding. Alek isn't the only one who can crack a joke around here," Jasmine shook her head. She couldn't believe that she had actually gotten away with this. "Alrighty, now. Time to go home, kids."

"Please don't tell me that we're going to be running home! I've already had enough for one day!" Chloe was just about to fall onto the ground and suggest a break before she saw a look being exchanged by Alek and Jasmine. Alek turned to Chloe with his trademark smirk and to, Chloe's chagrin, she found her feet being lifted off the ground as Alek threw her over her shoulder as if she weighed nothing.

"Alek! Put me down this instant!" Chloe yelled as she let her arms and legs fly all over the place in an attempt to be freed. Although she wasn't complaining about the view she got from hanging upside down on Alek's back… Especially while they were walking…

Alek could hear the giggles coming from her as he wrapped his arms more tightly around her legs to avoid her kicking him where the sun doesn't shine.

"Oh darling, you know I can't do that," Alek smiled. The usage of the pet name did not go unnoticed by any of the three Mai, but they all decided to ignore it.

"Alek, I swear on my life… Ah!" Chloe squealed as Alek wrapped an arm around her waist and let her free fall for a millisecond into his arms so that he was carrying her bridal style. She held onto his neck for dear life.

"Alek, I seriously recommend that you don't let her walk. The moment her feet touch the ground, she'll kill you," Jasmine snickered at the scene in front of her.

"Chloe, I'm having this strange idea that maybe we should team up and just get rid of Jasmine and her comments… Then you can _try_ to kill me. No promises on your success, though," Alek maintained eye contact with Jasmine the entire time, as if he was trying to threaten her.

"Ah, but you see, young, naïve Alek, now that I know your plan, I can evade my defeat!" Jasmine's smirk had exploded into a wide and mischievous smile.

"Who are you and what have you done with my cousin?" The serious expression of concern on Alek's face made Chloe burst out laughing, receiving a glare from Alek in the process as Jasmine joined in with the laughter.

"You're going to get all mushy with Chloe now, so, someone has to take your place!" Jasmine finally straightened up, having doubled over from laughter.

"Hey," Alek said firmly, attempting to keep a straight face while avoiding an awkward moment that could occur between himself and Chloe, "no one, and I mean no one, can take my place."

"I wouldn't put it past her, Alek. Don't underestimate a girl," Chloe smiled. Alek gently let her back on to her feet, letting his arm linger on her waist until he was 500 percent sure that she was standing straight.

"Ugh, where have I heard that before?" Alek groaned, realizing that this battle was one he would definitely lose. Outnumbered by girls. There goes his manhood.

"Alrighty, well, I'm going to head home and take a shower, while you two work out your sibling rivalry problems. I'll see you around!" Chloe quickly planted a kiss on Alek's cheek before skipping off and then breaking into a run.

Jasmine and Alek turned onto a different direction and decided to save their energy and walk home.

"So, uh, you and Chloe, eh?" Jasmine nudged Alek's arm with her elbow.

"Um, yeah, kind of I guess…" Alek trailed off, scratching the back of his head.

"'Kind of'? You two were making out like crazy when I got in this morning!"

"Well, yeah, I guess we were… I mean,… Wait, why am I talking about this with you?" Alek couldn't believe that he was about to admit he liked a girl to _Jasmine_. He loved her like a sister, but… still…

"Well, you are afraid to talk about with Chloe, fearing that you'll ruin whatever you have. And you don't want to talk about it with your basketball friends because they're not really your friends. And you don't want to talk about it with Valentina because, well, that just might be a bit awkward for you. And knowing you, you want to talk to someone, not just your pillow. So, I am your only option left! Unless if you want to talk to Paul or Amy…" Jasmine smiled, proud of herself.

"That was supposed to be a rhetorical question," Alek grumbled, quiet enough for human ears to find incoherent and for Jasmine to understand perfectly.

"Oh, come on! We never gossip like we used to! Remember when we would stay up all night and you would rant about how _stupid _and _human_ your 'friends' were?" Jasmine pleaded.

"Fine, we can _gossip_," Alek caved in, mocking her childish ways, even though he was excited to have these moments back again. "But if I hear a word of what shall be spoken outside of this conversation, I will kill you."

"Yes, sir! Cone of silence!" Jasmine gave Alek a mocking salute before proceeding to pry him. "So, do you like her? Like, like like her?"

"Jas, the amount of "likes" in that sentence are too much for me to answer properly."

"Well, do you? Do you? Do you?"

"Jas, you're starting to sound like Amy. How is that even possible?" Alek whined.

"That's beside the point. So, do you?"

"Maybe. Probably. I'm pretty sure I do…" the boy was just thinking out loud now.

"I'm taking that as a yes," Jasmine said, interrupting his thought process. She smiled to herself inwardly, knowing that she had successfully squeezed out the right information. Getting Alek to admit it to himself might just make Alek bolder in his relationship with Chloe.

"As you should," Alek replied after a long pause.

"Come on, I'll race you home," Jasmine cried out as she had already taken off and was running towards their loft. Alek just shook his head before following in suit.

On the other side of town, Chloe was just stepping out of her shower. She was so looking forward to it that, once she got into the house, she ran upstairs and forgot to grab clothes into the bathroom with her. Little did she know how that would affect her…

After wrapping herself in a towel and brushing out her hair, Chloe stepped into her room. She was just about to walk up to her closet to get dressed until she was shocked to see a certain British… sex god, I guess you could say, lying on her bed, hands behind his head and his trademark smirk drawn on his face.

"Oh, hello, there, Alek. Yes, please, feel free to come in and lie on my bed. You're always welcome." Although her voice was seeping with sarcasm, she immediately regretted those words and knew that Alek would be turning them around to his advantage in a second.

Alek swung his legs off of Chloe's bed and made his way towards Chloe, who was leaning against the wall. She made no effort to move or evade his approach. Alek came up very close to Chloe, living up to his status as a "close talker". Chloe wasn't complaining, though.

She could tell that Alek had just been in the shower. His hair was obviously still wet, but it was also somewhat dry, probably from the wind that he felt when he was on his way over to her room. This gave him a look as if he had just gotten out of bed and didn't bother brushing his hair. Kind of a sex-hair kind of look. Chloe had a thing for that kind of hair.

Alek also smelled delicious because of his bathing. Chloe wanted to inhale his scent, but she couldn't. That would mean that he won. What he won, she had no idea, but he already had the upper hand here, having her backed up against the wall, so she wasn't going to take any chances. She wished they could just stand here all day, though. She could inhale his scent forever.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Chloe King?" Alek put both of his hands at level of Chloe's eyes, trapping her in between his toned body and the wall.

"I don't know," Chloe tried to maintain some of her sanity. Alek's proximity and scent were driving her up the wall, no pun intended. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

If Alek wanted to play this game, she would play right back.

What Chloe didn't know is that Alek was considering this seduction revenge for her seduction last night. Not that he was complaining about them. But hey, he deserves to have some fun as well, right?

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." Alek lowered his head towards Chloe's neck. His nose trailed up and down, breathing in her scent.

"I'm taking this as a yes," Chloe whispered, trying not to ruin the moment. She was gripping her towel so hard that her knuckles were almost white from her effort to not let it drop and to keep her sanity.

Alek hummed in response, as if he was agreeing, before planting a kiss on the base of Chloe's throat. His lips then made their way up to Chloe's jawline. They ghosted from one side of her head to the other, Chloe rolled her head from side to side to make access easier for Alek. After a few moments of teasing Alek finally put his lips on top of hers, but they were barely brushing up against each other. He was, once again, teasing her.

"Is it working?" He barely whispered. Had Chloe been human, she probably wouldn't have heard what he said.

Chloe was trying so hard not to cave in, but his lips were right there and they were just teasing her so much! She couldn't even turn the tables and flip his back to the wall because he was too strong and she was one handed. So, she decided to keep quiet, hoping that that might get him shut up and kiss her already.

Alek simply chuckled in response to Chloe's silence. He figured that he'd let her think that they tied this. In all honesty, he was about to throw away his seduction act and slam his lips onto hers.

And that's exactly what he did.

This was their third kiss, and, somehow, each kiss was better than the last.

Alek couldn't understand how that was possible, but he stopped caring once he felt Chloe's hand pulling him closer to her by pulling on the belt hoops on his jeans, deepening their kiss.

Alek thought that he could spend days like this. But apparently, Chloe had another idea in mind.

Chloe let go of Alek's belt hoop and placed her hand on his chest. She could feel his heart rate accelerate at a great speed. Suddenly, she pushed against, catching him off guard so that he had to stumble a little bit backwards.

"Well played, Alek. But, apparently, you have yet to learn a few tricks of seduction," Chloe smirked as she pushed herself off of the wall and walked past Alek to her closet. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get changed."

It took a moment for Alek to regain himself. He was still staring at Chloe in awe. _How does she do that?_

"So, I'm assuming you want to me to go outside while you change." It was more of a question than a statement, since Alek was hoping she might let him stay.

However, that was not the case. Chloe just shook her head, smiled, and gently gestured towards the door. Alek put on a fake puppy dog face as he made his way towards the door. Chloe just shook her head once again and waited for Alek to close the door behind him while she changed.

"Hey, Chloe?" Alek asked after about 30 seconds.

"Yes, Alek?"

"Valentina suddenly wants me at the apartment, so I'm going to run home and find out what's going on. I doubt that it'll take long, so I'll just come back here when it's over and save you from the boredom of being alone… again. Alright?"

"Okay. Have fun, kiddo!" Chloe smiled to herself.

"'Kiddo? Seriously?" she could hear his voice fading out slowly so she didn't bother replying. Instead, she just laughed, knowing that Alek could hear her.

It was already dark outside and Alek had yet to show up. Amy and Paul had come over to Chloe's because they thought that it was about time to have a friend's night in. With all of Chloe's training and Mai-related business, they haven't had one in a while.

Amy was rambling on about some dress that she saw in the window of some boutique. Paul was being, well, Paul, and admiring Amy while ignoring what she was saying. Chloe was trying to listen, and was responding with a "mhm" and a "yeah, totally" whenever was necessary. But she couldn't help but worry about Alek. He said that it shouldn't have taken whatever Valentina wanted too long. And yet, it had been six hours.

Just as her thoughts crossed to Alek, the devil himself opened the door. Chloe was sitting on the couch facing the door while Paul was spread out on practically the entire couch facing away from the door. Amy was on the floor so she couldn't even see the hallway leading to the door.

The moment Alek saw Chloe, he made a beeline towards her. He had been waiting for forever while Valentina was trying to explain that she was going to Las Vegas for a little while, and why, but she was being constantly interrupted by phone calls that she just _had_ to take. Alek had been itching to get back to Chloe the moment he left her house, making this one of the most difficult days he had ever had to endure.

"Hi, darling, I'm so sorry I'm late. I got a little bit held up back home. I'm sorry I didn't call," it was a reflex to talk to her as if they were tied to the hip.

They sounded like a happily married couple.

He didn't even allow Chloe to respond and tell him that there was no need to apologize. He automatically placed his lips gently on her. Chloe craned her neck upwards to give easier access to Alek, who was standing behind the couch. She gently placed her hand on Alek's cheek. It felt like the right thing to do. And his skin was so smooth.

"Woah, there people! What is going on?" Amy shrieked out of surprise and excitement , making our two favorite lovebirds pull away from their kiss to look at the girl. "Alright, you two have got a lot of explaining to do!"

"You hadn't told her about what happened between us, yet, have you?" Alek winced at the prospect of what was to come.

"Nope, not yet. I was going to, however. Tonight. Until you came and kissed me," Chloe sent him a gentle glare, making him chuckle at her attempt at being threatening to him.

"Alright. Chloe, Alek, onto the armchair. Paul, sit up," Amy ordered around. "You are about to tell us everything. And I mean _everything_." Amy sat down next to Paul, ready to listen, more attentive than she has ever been.

Alek took a seat on the armchair and Chloe happily took a seat on his lap. One arm snaked around Chloe's back to secure her from falling off of the chair and the other draped itself over Chloe's thighs. Chloe's arms wrapped themselves around Alek's neck.

"I hope you know that what we are about to endure is completely and utterly your fault," Chloe threw yet another pretend glare at Alek.

"Yes, dear," Alek sighed and spoke with a slightly mocking tone.

"Aw, did you hear that, Paul? Alek just used the international term used by guys giving into their women!" After a moment of adoration, Amy rapidly turned towards Paul. "Are you taking notes, sweetie?" she cooed.

"Yes, dear," Paul sighed.

I guess Paul catches on quickly, doesn't he?

**Yes! Chapter 3 is done! And now to work on chapter 4… but that's for later.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I most certainly had fun writing it! Please review, they are always greatly appreciated, not to mention the amount of motivation they give me! Thanks you!**


	4. Possession

**Yes! Once again, there is not an 11 day wait for the next chapter! Isn't that exciting?**

**Anyways, thank you all so much for all of the excellent reviews. They really help me move along in my writing and give that extra push to not be lazy. Thank you to Kalilong7 (as always) for helping me make up my mind!**

**I feel like I should just inform you that the next update won't be coming as quickly as the last one. Provided, it won't take as long as the first one, but I've got a few things to take care of over the next few days which will prevent me from having time at my computer. I do, however, have the next few chapters outlined in detail, so it should take too long to update once I am free again.**

**Anyways, without any further ado, I present the fourth chapter of "Coke and Chocolates"**

Amy had squealed until the early hours of the morning regarding Alek and Chloe getting together. When Amy had blatantly asked the two of them if they were dating, Chloe answered, without hesitance that, yes, they were dating. Amy had asked for details over and over again. Chloe couldn't help but enjoy giving them to her. Every time she said the words out loud, she felt more and more giddy. She probably told Amy_ everything_ at least twelve times throughout the night. While Chloe and Amy had been discussing this, Paul had crashed on the couch and Alek had fallen asleep with his arms still wrapped around the blonde in his lap and with a gentle smile on his face. It was the second night in a row he felt so happy falling asleep.

Sunday was spent with all five friends simply hanging out together. Jasmine, Amy, Paul, Chloe and Alek. The entire new "gang", I guess you could say. Now that Chloe and Alek were together, both groups of Chloe's friends, no matter how small they were, needed to get along well. And that they did. It was a very light atmosphere, filled with laughs. There were moments when Chloe forget that she was the Uniter and that she had a race to save. There were moments when Alek and Jasmine forgot that they had to protect Chloe. It was always in the back of their minds, of course, but at the moment, they were more than happy with just being around her as a friend, not as a job.

Jasmine was much more patient with Paul's questions than Alek was, and she constantly teased him for his lack of tolerance. Paul still had questions left at the end of the day, since Jasmine did have her limit, but she and Paul did have some fun coming up with random superhero scenarios. Chloe was just so elated that everything was going perfectly.

On Sunday night, Chloe was snuggled into Alek in her bed, her head tucked into his neck. They were both awake, but both silent. It was a nice silence, a comfortable one. However, Chloe could sense that something was up with Alek. She felt as if there was something that he wasn't telling her.

"Is everything alright, Alek?" Chloe's voice was on the border between a whisper and her regular voice, weaving in and out of the two categories.

"Of course, everything's perfect," Alek quickly replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, sweetheart. Don't worry," Alek smiled to her in the dark, knowing that she could see it.

They lay in silence for a few minutes. Chloe could still tell that there was something Alek wasn't telling her, but she didn't want to push him. She didn't need to, however, since Alek finally decided to speak up.

"Actually, there is one thing…" He seemed hesitant.

"Sure, I'm listening," Chloe sat up a little bit so that she was at eye level with Alek.

"Will you go out with me?" Alek asked slowly. Chloe looked at him with a confusion written all over her face.

"You're asking me this now?" A nod. "After we made out in the kitchen?" Another nod. "Twice?" Yet another nod. "And after all of yesterday and today, while you and I haven't spent more than fifteen minutes apart, excluding when you left to talk to Valentina?" Another nod.

"So, I'm taking that as a yes?" Alek had an expression on his face that made him look as if he was a naïve child asking for a cookie before dinner. He's hopeful, but not sure of the answer.

Chloe placed a hand on Alek's cheek and placed a chaste yet lingering kiss on his lips. She then looked him straight in the eyes, with only honesty and affection in them.

"Yes, Alek, I would love to go out with you," Chloe smiled at her new boyfriend. She figured it would come to this, but she didn't realize how much she was anticipating this moment until it actually happened.

Alek Petrov was her boyfriend.

Chloe King was his girlfriend.

Both wanted to squeal and jump up and down with glee.

Chloe felt like she needed Amy to come over immediately.

Alek had never felt more like a girl than he did now. But, hey, no one else had to know about his feminine moment.

Because of his excitement, Alek practically pounced on Chloe. Gently, though. His lips fell into a pattern with hers as he kissed her, pushing Chloe into the pillows of her bed. He pulled away once he needed air, and before they could get carried away.

"We really need to get some sleep. We have to go back to reality and face school tomorrow," he glanced at his watch quickly. "Well, today, really, but that's beside the point. Shall we sleep?"

"Uh…. Fine. Good night, Alek," Chloe once again slid down to snuggle her head into Alek's chest.

"Good night, sweetheart," Alek whispered. He managed to drift off into sleep within a minute.

Chloe, on the other, had a little bit of trouble falling asleep. She was just in such a good mood. She was too happy for sleep.

It had only been 48 hours since their first kiss, and it almost seemed like things were going very quickly. But maybe it was because the time that Chloe and Alek had spent together was so dense throughout that weekend that Chloe wasn't worried that they were moving too quickly. She knew that Alek wouldn't make her do anything she didn't want her to do. She knew that Alek would move at any pace she needed him to. He was her protector first, so she knew that it was her interests before his.

This made Chloe feel a little bit guilty. She didn't want their relationship to be Alek giving and Chloe taking. She made a mental note to herself to do something special for Alek.

Chloe knew that Alek was right about falling asleep, so she tried to find a way to get herself to go to bed and to sleep. She decided to focus on Alek's breathing and his heartbeat. Chloe closed her eyes and, within just a few minutes, she fell asleep.

Chloe awoke to an alarm clock and to, unfortunately, an empty bed. Her head shot up and her vision narrowed down to a note, along with a single red rose, resting on the other half of her bed. A single red rose. How lovely.

_Good morning, Chloe_

_I ran out quickly so that I could change and grab my school bag. I had a feeling that, since you don't have your mother yelling at you to get up, you might forget to wake up. Hence, the alarm clock. I'll be back as soon as I can be to drive you to school._

_Love, Alek_

_Love, Alek_. That shouldn't mean much, right? Chloe thought. It is, after all, simply a common and polite way to close a letter. Especially one that was accompanied by a red rose. Right?

Chloe shut of the alarm clock and decided to finally roll out of bed. She was completely awake now, so there was no use in lying around anymore.

After a quick shower and making her bed, Chloe turned to her closet to figure out what she was going to wear today. She stood in her pajamas and stared for a solid three minutes before finally deciding upon an outfit.

The weather was still a bit gloomy, so Chloe decided on black skinny jeans with a blue tank top and a grey cardigan, leaving it unbuttoned. She wrapped a think white scarf around her neck and put on a pair of black ankle boots that had a one inch heel.

She waited downstairs for Alek while munching on an apple. She wondered what she should do while they were walking to school together. Should she take his hand into hers? Should she intertwine her fingers with his? Or should they just walk like they normally would, before everything happened this weekend?

She was brought out of her thoughts by the honking of a horn. She wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion and frustration. It was probably someone for a neighbor, but Chloe was ready to give them a piece of her mind for honking so loudly in the morning.

She stomped to door, prepared to yell, when the door flung open on its own and Alek was found leaning against the outside wall on her porch.

He was wearing, yet again, a tight shirt. This one was black, and a pair of dark blue jeans accompanied it. Alek wore black low top converse and was holding a grey hoodie in one of his hands.

"Are you ready?" As if he was some sort of weather god, the skies boomed within milliseconds of Alek uttering those words. Heavy rain followed quickly.

"Ugh, we have to walk through the rain? Well, this is going to be a lovely start to the day…" Chloe whined.

"Walk? Silly Chloe, I would never force you to walk to school in the rain. Train in it, yes, but go to school? I'm not that mean!" Alek mocked.

"Then how do you propose we get to school, oh kind one?" Two could play at this game.

"Um, by that car that is standing at the end of your driveway to which I have a key…"

Chloe glanced over his shoulder as he waved his keys in front of her face, as if to prove a point.

"A Jaguar? Really? Is there some law of irony that forces all Mai to have Jaguars, by any chance?"

"No, but only the extremely epic Mai are cool enough to ride Jaguars. It's more of an unspoken rule or dignity issue than it is a Mai law."

Chloe paused for a moment, attempting to come up with a witty retort. However, it was too early in the morning for her to do so, so she just sighed in resignation.

"Just let me grab my bag," Chloe turned around and walked quickly towards the island in the kitchen where her bag rested. She then walked back to Alek, who pressed himself up against the wall as if to say "ladies first". He allowed Chloe to pass and then closed the door behind him.

Chloe was just about to open the passenger's seat in the car when Alek's left arm snaked around her waist to hold her back and his right arm came to grab the door handle and open the door for his girl. Chloe thanked him quietly before sliding into the car.

They drove in a comfortable silence, Alek focusing on the road and Chloe looking out of the window. Suddenly, she heard Alek chuckle.

"What's up?" She sat up more so that it would be easier to face him.

"I just realized that the guys on the team are going to give me hell starting today." Alek continued to laugh to himself.

"And why would they do that, exactly?"

"They're going to mock me and tell me that I am completely and utterly whipped"

"Well, are you?" Chloe asked this hesitantly. Alek was laughing, but maybe it was an inside joke for himself and only himself.

"Well, I call you things such as 'darling' and 'sweetheart'. What do you think?" Alek managed a quick glance at Chloe with his eyebrow raised before he transferred his attention back to road.

Chloe's mood changed instantly from slightly concerned to smug.

"Alek Petrov is whipped, and it's because of me…" she trailed off. She wanted to skip around in joy, but she refused to give Alek the satisfaction after he admitted something to her which was completely out of character.

"Now, now, don't get too cocky, King." And he's back.

Alek pulled into a parking space relatively close to the entrance, so that everyone with a car and everyone walking to school would see them arrive together.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked.

"Why in the world wouldn't I be?" Alek smirked in response.

"Yeah, confidence is definitely a color that you wear quite well." He exited the car quickly enough to prevent Chloe from answering. She did not, however, go into shock at his remark. Instead, she quickly grabbed her bag and opened her door before Alek had the chance to do so himself, once again refusing to give him the satisfaction.

Once Chloe reached Alek in the front of his car, he took her hand, weaved his fingers with hers, smiled at her and led her inside of the school.

The moment the doors opened and Alek walked in with Chloe, it was like a wave of gossip fell from them to the end of the hallways. Within seconds they could hear rumors starting up like wildfire.

"Is she blackmailing him?"

"Has he gone completely mental?"

"That bitch stole him from me!"

Alek could hear the rumors and each individual word just as clearly as Chloe could. He feared that she was panicking on the inside and that she was feeling tormented by all of the words. He worried that she was hurt because of this.

That wasn't the case for Chloe at all. She ignored the sudden rumors and all of the means words. She knew that, as long as her friends knew the truth, it didn't matter what anybody else thought.

She still didn't complain when Alek's lips came crashing down on hers in the middle of the hallway.

Alek poured every ounce of assurance and sympathy into the kiss, along with his usual affection and appreciation for having Chloe in his life. But this kiss wasn't just to comfort Chloe and to help her mark him as her own. This was also his own territorial marking. This was his way of telling every single male specimen in the entire school to back off from Chloe, because she was his and nobody else's.

Chloe was taken aback by the kiss. It was honestly the last thing that she was expecting at the moment. Had it not been for the fact that Alek wrapped his arms tightly around Chloe's waist, her knees failing her would have caused her to fall in the middle of the hallway. And wouldn't that have ruined the moment?

Alek finally pulled away and noticed that Chloe's eyes lacked all worry. He smiled proudly at her, understanding that she was above all of the gossip. He whispered a goodbye to her and let her walk to her locker. He watched her for a moment before heading to his jocko friends.

"Dude! Chloe King? Took you long enough! I could tell that you've been crushing on her for weeks!" One of his friends said. These boys may have their minds in the gutters practically 24/7, but at least they understood the concept of territory. Except for one of them…

"Hey, where's Tyler?" Alek noticed, slightly concerned. He usually followed the rest of the pack like a tail.

Meanwhile, Chloe was rummaging through her locker, trying to find a pencil. That is, until she was interrupted by an unwanted presence.

"You know, whatever you want to find, you could probably find it better with me," it was none other than Tyler leaning on the locker next to Chloe's.

"You haven't spoken to me ever. What makes you interested in using horrible pick-up lines now?" Chloe rolled her eyes in annoyance. Now that Alek showed interest, every stupid boy would show some, as well.

"Silly, naïve Chloe. I've been interested for a while. I just never worked up the guts." His tone wasn't sincere, it was lusty. Chloe say right through his act and knew that all he wanted to do was get her into the sack.

"Sorry, Tyler. As you may have guessed by now, I'm with Alek." Chloe was about to close her locker and walk away until Tyler slammed the locker for her and trapped her against the wall.

"So, why don't you dump that loser and upgrade to me?" Tyler whispered into Chloe's ear. He ran his hand down her arm and trapped her in an uncomfortable embrace.

Chloe was racking her brain, trying to figure out what to do. Thankfully, she never had to make up her mind.

Alek managed to thrust Tyler's arm out of the way and pull Chloe into his arms before more damage could be done. Chloe curled up into Alek. She thought that had the situation under control, but then Tyler got very up close and personal and she actually became scared.

Chloe was burying herself into Alek's warmth as his arm wrapped around her and his hand moved up and down slowly, attempting to calm her down and soothe her. You'd think that his eyes would express the same concern as have been reflected in his actions, but, if you took a closer look, you'd see pure fury. His eyes were almost red from the anger. Tyler obviously could sense this.

"Alek, come on, don't flip out. I was only having some fun. Right, babe?" Chloe did answer and just snuggled herself deeper into Alek's chest.

"First of all," Alek growled at Tyler, "don't you dare call my girlfriend 'babe'. And, second of all," Alek stepped away from Chloe, still managing to keep his arm around, and towards Tyler. He towered over him easily and he could see Tyler wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. "Second of all, if you lay even a finger on her again, I promise that it will be the last thing that you will ever do at this school. And trust me, I am a man of my word."

Alek stepped back and pulled Chloe away with him, sending a final glare in Tyler's direction before walking away.

"If he ever even tries to lay a finger on you, let me know immediately," Alek's tone had softened greatly as he addressed Chloe, but it didn't lose the seriousness it had before. She waited for a moment, collecting her composure, before replying.

"I like this side of you," she smiled at him, changing the mood around them instantly.

"What? My being jealous?" Well, this he wasn't expecting…

"Some guys can pull off certain shades of green pretty well."

"Are you saying that I was hot back there?" Alek teased. Oh boy, the cocky bastard was coming back.

"Mmm… I was aiming for cute…" Chloe learned how to play this game from the master.

"'Cute'? Seriously? I'm cute?" There flew away his dignity.

"Yes, Alek, I called you cute and you are going to like it." Looks like she was winning this match.

Alek starred at her in awe. Where was this sassiness coming from? He should have befriended her ages ago! Then he wouldn't have been so bored with all of his witless jocko (as Chloe loves to call them) friends and he could have had more interesting conversations outside of his family.

"Ugh, just let me walk you to class without any more casualties to my manhood," Alek grumbled after a pause.

He was trying hard not to let a smile sneak onto his lips and ruin his attempt at making her feel at least a little bit guilty, but the moment he heard Chloe start laughing loudly, he couldn't help but break his façade and join her.

**Yes! Done! Woot! Let's have a party and celebrate!**

**Thanks so much for reading this chapter! Please review, they're always deeply appreciated! Again, thank you!**


	5. Comfort

**Hello, people of Earth. I thought that I wouldn't have time to write and update, but guess what! I did! Yipee!**

**Anyways, thank you for all of the reviews, and, as always, thank you to Kalilong7 who always helps me make up my mind **

**Now, without further ado, I present chapter 5.**

"Hey, Amy!" Chloe smiled at her friend as she made her way over the seat next to her. They still had a few minutes before class officially started, so they had time to catch up.

"What was that?" Amy was referring to the scene that she witnessed as she walked by, where Chloe was tucked away in Alek's embrace, who was squaring off with Tyler.

"Oh, you know, Tyler was being an ass, and Alek was being, well…" Chloe drifted off and looked into a distance, a smiling started to glide its way onto her face. Her thoughts went to Alek and how primal and… just how hot he looked when he was protecting her.

"Oh, no. No, Chloe, you are not going to go all mushy and lovey-dovey on me now!" Amy whined. "Someone needs to make sure that I don't go insane from that! Being mushy is my job!" Chloe couldn't help but laugh at Amy as the bell rung.

"Oh, Amy, can I borrow a pencil? I kind of got side tracked earlier…" Amy sighed in response and handed her a pencil. "Thank you!"

Lunch came quite quickly that Monday. Alek waited for Chloe outside of her classroom to head to the cafeteria. Chloe somehow managed to walk by and not notice the British sex god waiting for her, so he decided to scare her. He silently walked up behind Chloe, wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off of the ground. He managed to turn Chloe around in his arms in the air so that, when he let her feet fall back down to the ground, her balance would be off and she would have to lean on him or wrap her arms around him to prevent herself from falling. Which is exactly what happened, of course.

No words were exchanged as Alek smirked at Chloe and she shot him a playful glare in return. Alek gently turned Chloe around in the forward direction, keeping one arm around her waist, and began to lead her to the cafeteria.

"That's what you get for ignoring me," Alek smiled. Chloe's response was to gently shove Alek in the arm. It wasn't very powerful, but it caught Alek off guard and caused him to stumble sideways a little bit and to unwrap his arm from Chloe. He quickly recovered and pulled himself back up to Chloe, draping and arm around shoulders while she placed hers around his waist. In this way, they made it to the cafeteria.

They decided to take a table to themselves. Alek didn't really want to share Chloe with his friends. Not yet, at least. The moment they placed their lunches on the table, Paul and Amy joined them. Eventually, Jasmine did so as well.

Until a few days ago, Alek could never have imagined himself sitting at a table with this group of people. But, after getting to know Paul and Amy yesterday, and after seeing how happy they made Chloe, he was more than willing to sit with them. Giving up his social life and his "friends" that couldn't come up with a witty retort if their life depended on it was totally worth spending time with Chloe and even being surrounded by imaginative dorks like Paul.

He was actually happy.

After school, Alek walked Chloe to work, instead of following her like he usually did. He had dropped off his car at Chloe's place because he knew that he would be there after her shift. Their fingers were entwined and they walked in a comfortable silence. They both stole glances at one another, but their glances were sometimes met by the other's and that made them blush, chuckle and turn away, but move closer to each other for a moment. They were having a great time together, and they weren't even really doing anything.

That moment, unfortunately, was ruined when Chloe glanced up and found Brian waiting for her in the shop. He smiled at her once she came into the store and into his sight, but the smile was quickly turned into an expression of fury as he noticed Chloe's hand in Alek's.

_Oh, this is going to be awkward, _Chloe had been dreading this moment for a while in the back of her mind, hoping that it wouldn't come to existence as soon as this.

"It'll be fine," Alek whispered to her as if he had read her mind, "It's better that we get this over with now, rather than later." His British accent somehow managed to soothe her worries a tad. But only a little bit.

The couple approached Brian, who was standing by the counter. He glared at both of them, millions of swear words racing through his thoughts.

"Hello, Chloe," He addressed her coldly and made a point of ignoring Alek.

"Hey, Brian," Chloe nervously replied.

"You know, this is a really low stunt you're pulling," Brian spat at her.

Chloe could feel Alek tighten his grip on her hand, attempting to restrain himself from teaching the human a few manners.

"Excuse me?" Chloe's blood was starting to boil. She didn't want to date Brian, and she said that ages ago. He really had no right to be speaking to her like this.

"You tell me you don't want to date me because you're 'not ready', yet, here you are, holding hands with some guy. What is he, your catch of the day?"

"At this point in time, I'd have it be anyone but you," Chloe was growling and her grip on Alek's hand was now tighter than his on hers. She didn't know where this anger was coming from, but she felt that it gave her a surge of confidence to set Brian in his place. That's what he gets for lying to her about waiting. That's what he gets for pushing her to do something that she didn't want to do by telling her he loves her. Karma, baby.

"Now, now, Chloe, you don't have to be rude. You've already stomped on anyone valuable already. God, Chloe. You're acting like such a whore," and that was the breaking point for Alek.

Alek slowly stepped in front of Chloe and easily towered over Brian by a few inches. The fury that was in his eyes was the same that met Tyler in the hallway earlier that day.

"You will _not_ speak to a lady like that. Especially to Chloe. Ever again." His voice was almost a whisper, but he made sure that Brian heard him loud and clear. His tone was so menacing that it caused Chloe to have a shiver shoot through her spine. There was fear in Brian's eyes for a moment before he shook his head to bring him back into the role that he was supposed to be playing: the "I will have my revenge" ex.

"Maybe in England you were raised to treat a lady like a lady under any circumstances, but here in the states, we play our cards a little bit differently." Brian threw a final glare in Chloe's direction before storming off. Alek watched the door for about twenty seconds to make sure that he didn't come back before he turned back to Chloe.

There was a smile of gratitude on her face that made him relax instantly; he didn't even realize how tense he was until he did so. Instead of uttering a word, Chloe lifted herself onto her toes and placed a kiss on Alek's lips.

It was a gentle kiss, but, behind the curtains, it was filled with fire and passion. Both were trying to restrain it, not wanting to ruin the moment. Alek gently placed his hands on Chloe's hips to steady their physical unity.

"I'll be over there, doing homework, if you need me," Alek whispered before he left Chloe to her work.

After her shift, Alek walked her home and said that he needed to grab something from his place and that he would be back soon. While he was gone, Chloe received a call from her mother.

"Hi, sweetie!"

"Hey, mom, how's Los Angeles?" Chloe sat on a bar stool surrounding the island in her kitchen and rested her elbows on the counter.

"It's good, really good. Maybe even too good…" Meredith drifted off as if she wanted Chloe to catch on to something. Which she did.

"You're staying there for a few more days, aren't you?"

"Just until next week, sweetie. I should be back Wednesday."

"Well, I'm glad things are looking up for you!" Chloe spoke sincerely.

"Thanks, sweetie. You know the drill?"

"I know where the money is, I know where the emergency credit card is, and I know where that giant, monstrously sized book of house rules is. Don't worry, I've got it under control."

"Thank goodness for that. It's so nice to know that I don't have a teenager who is in the stage of rebellion right now."

"Yes, mom. Good for you." Chloe heard a knock. "Hey, mom, I think there's someone at the door. I'll talk to you later?"

"Alright, sweetie. Make sure you have pepper spray in your pocket first. Just in case. I love you."

"Implied. Bye, mom." And with that she hung and approached the door.

Chloe found Jasmine on her doorstep. It was raining again so she was soaked to the skin. Chloe stepped aside to allow Jasmine to pass into the dry house. She started pacing and Chloe could tell that something was off.

"Jasmine… What's wrong?"

"Alek isn't here with you, is he?"

"No, I thought that he went home to grab something. He should be coming back soon. Why?"

"I was on the phone with him while he was walking somewhere, and then I heard him swear, I heard some sort of crash and then the line went dead."

"Should we call Valentina?"

"My mom's in Vegas, remember? There's no way she would time to figure stuff out or get here in time to fix it herself."

"Alright, alright, um… before we both flip out, maybe there is a reasonable explanation for this?"

Both of them knew that Chloe was just saying that, but she still received a glare from Jasmine telling her that now was not the time for her optimism.

"Alright, well, we don't know that he's in trouble. And we wouldn't know anyway to find him. I suggest that you go back to your apartment and I'll stay here. Alek would show up either there or here. If he's not back in thirty minutes, then we'll call for some reinforcements. While you're at your house, look for some phone numbers and keep them in front of you just in case."

Jasmine nodded to Chloe, a kind of silent "thanks for helping", before walking back out into the rain.

"Text me when you get home!" Chloe yelled after her, hoping that she would hear her. Even with their super hearing, the rain might still make it hard to hear.

About ten minutes later, Chloe received a text message from Jasmine saying that she got home safely and is now waiting for Alek and looking for numbers. It was a complete coincidence that someone knocked on Chloe's door just as she received the text.

Chloe was hesitant to open the door. Dear goodness knows who was at the steps. She began searching through the drawers in the kitchen, looking for the pepper spray her mom told her about.

"It's me, Chloe. Open up." The sound of the British accent drifted to Chloe's ears and her head shot up in worry. His voice sounded weak and tired, as if he had just run to the east coast and back.

Chloe jogged up to the door and swung it open. The sight that met her eyes stunned her.

Alek's face was covered in his own blood. There were scratches everywhere and a huge bruise was forming on his left cheek bone. His clothes were covered in black grease and mud. He was holding his shoulder very tightly, occasionally wincing in pain. Chloe didn't see blood, and Alek wasn't howling in pain, so Chloe assumed that it was just another growing bruise.

Chloe hurried Alek in and told him to take a seat in a chair. She rummaged through some cabinets looking for the first aid kit. Then, she took out her phone to text Jasmine.

_He's here. A bit bloodied up, but safe. –Chloe_

_Do you need me to come over? To help? –Jasmine_

_No, I think we're good here. I've got it under control –Chloe_

_Alright. Thanks for helping! Tell Alek I'm going to kill him if he doesn't have a good reason for disappearing on my like that! –Jasmine_

_Sure, no problem. I'll see you tomorrow –Chloe_

Chloe started taking out some cotton balls and some rubbing alcohol, preparing to clean Alek.

"This might sting a little bit," Chloe warned as she began to dab the cotton ball gently onto Alek's scratches. She heard him hiss in pain and began to blow on whatever spot she just disinfected, cooling away the pain.

"So, do you plan on telling me what the hell happened?" Alek could tell that Chloe was a little bit pissed off. He didn't know if she was mad at him, but maybe she was. He had no way of knowing. Her tone also expressed hurt, empathetic, of course, along with an incredible amount of worry.

This concern gave Alek a confidence boost. He suddenly felt much better. He wished that he didn't have to get beat up to feel this way, or to have Chloe so worried about him, but he felt needed. He felt like Chloe was dependent on him and needed him to be okay. Which she did, although she would never admit it.

"Do you want to know the whole story, with every detail, or the basic outline?" Chloe tripped on her feet at that moment and Alek placed his hands on her hips to steady her. As she nurtured his face, he didn't let go.

"How about a non-vague, but basic outline?" She tried very hard not to blush. This would have been the wrong moment.

"Well, I was walking and then your favorite human, Brian, pulled me into an alley. He started to throw a punch here, give a kick there. I didn't really fight back, but then I noticed some guys showing up with ropes. I recognized a face or two from having fought them before. They were part of the Order and they had gotten Brian involved. They thought that he would be a good buffer, wearing me down so that they could capture me. I think they said something about using me as bait. I don't think that Brian actually knows that you, specifically, are the Uniter. He just knows that one exists. At least, that's the impression I got. I made it out of the alley before things could get worse and before I had the lovely opportunity to hear everything." Sarcasm never seemed to escape him.

Chloe didn't reply, just nodded her head in response. She had entered her own world for a moment as she put down the rubbing alcohol and uncapped a tube of Neosporin.

"Why in the world didn't you fight back?" She barely whispered, as if she was terrified to know the answer.

"In all honesty, I know that you had some feelings for him. I knew that you liked him at the moment, or at least didn't hate him, even after our encounter at your store. So I felt like you would be mad at me if I came out unscathed and he came out bloodied up."

"Well, it turned out to be the opposite, didn't it?" Alek could feel Chloe's mood changing from worried to amused.

"Yes, but now, you would be mad at him, and not at me. Therefore, I think I win in this situation." He shot Chloe his trade mark smirk.

"You still should have fought back."

"And why is that?"

"Because I only used Brian to make you jealous. I was holding on to some tiny thread of hope that you be aggravated by it enough to do something about it. I didn't even know if you liked me, but it was worth the shot. At least is worked!" Chloe tried to feign innocence as she dabbed her finger with some of the gel and rubbed it onto some of Alek's scratches.

He just stared at her with his mouth wide open. This was girl was capable of things more devious and more conniving than he thought she would ever be. This was a side that he hadn't seen before, and it was sexier than the confident, kick ass side, if that was even possible. But he just got played. Chloe practically made him play her game. Wow…

"You little minx…" Alek quickly wrapped his arms around Chloe's waist and ripped her from her balance into his chest. For some reason, Chloe's hands went into Alek's hair. The Neosporin covered hands that now made his hair all greasy. But that would be taken care of later.

"Well, what can I say? Don't hate the player, hate the game." Chloe spoke in a seductively low voice. She knew what they were doing now. It was yet another one of their games. Oh, how she loved their games…

"It seems that I've taught you well, King," Alek responded in the same seductive tone as Chloe had used.

Alek had expected a witty retort to fall from Chloe's lips at any second, but that didn't come. What in the world did this girl have in mind?

"Alek?"

"Yes, dear?" Ah, the universal phrase of giving in, again.

"Shut up."

"Yes, dear."

Alek saw the lust in her eyes as she leaned down to kiss him. Her lips teased him as they brushed against his, but they never really landed. Her breath tickled his face a little bit, and he was getting quite impatient at the moment.

"Chloe?" His need was obvious in his voice.

"Yes, dear?" She mocked him.

"Shut up."

Before Chloe even had a chance to respond, Alek's hand tangled itself in Chloe's hair and quickly pushed her head towards him, claiming her lips as his.

**The end! Of this chapter, not the story, don't worry, haha. I think, but I'm not sure, that I might add a little bit of action to this. Not too much, but just to add a level of physical/battle protection to the story, not just from ass holes and stuff, haha. Tell me what you think of this idea.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it! Please review!**


	6. Kisses

**Oh Mai (hah, I couldn't help myself, I'm sure I'm not the first one) goodness! Thank you all so much for the reviews! I appreciate each and every one so much!**

**And thank you to Kalilong7, who, once again, helped me out so much with my story. **

**Anyways, without further ado, I present Chapter 6.**

Chloe sat at her desk, her head bent over some text books as she was finishing up some homework for Wednesday. She always had a tendency to do some homework for a day ahead, especially when she was bored. And while she was waiting on Alek, she most definitely was.

Alek was in the shower at the moment, washing out the Neosporin in his hair and all of the grime and mud that had landed on him during his "fight" with Brian. He had taken a pair of Chloe's baggy sweatpants, the pair that was a few sizes too big for her, that may or may not be Paul's. He had left his clothes outside of the door for Chloe to throw in the wash. Chloe didn't see him take a shirt and, considering the fact that there were no guys living in the house, she didn't exactly see how he could borrow a shirt. Maybe he had a wife beater or something that didn't get dirty and that he kept for himself to wear instead of giving it to Chloe to wash. She quickly pushed that thought to the back of her mind before she could get carried away.

Chloe was so engrossed in her history homework that she didn't notice how the water suddenly stopped running. She didn't hear how the door opened and closed, gently of course. It was no surprise, however, that she didn't hear Alek sneak up behind her, for, even if she wasn't so invested in her homework, she wouldn't have heard his quite footsteps.

Alek had a plan to startle Chloe, but in a nice and pleasant way that she was sure to enjoy. Maybe he would as well.

Alek placed his hands on Chloe's shoulders, bringing her out of her trance as he ran his hands down her arms and leaned his head down to Chloe's. He nudged away Chloe's hair that was blocking her neck with his chin and bent his lips closer to her skin. He had yet to kiss her neck, instead he ran his nose up and down it, taking in her scent. He heard Chloe moan in pleasure at his ministrations and smiled to himself. Chloe rolled her neck to the side to give Alek better access to her neck. He decided that he had tortured Chloe enough and finally placed his lips onto her neck.

He placed soft kisses on her skin, tracing every inch of skin that he could reach. His arms had wrapped themselves around Chloe's chest, resting just underneath her collar bone. When Alek's lips found the area where here neck met her shoulders, he let his teeth skim her skin, producing a sudden and high pitched moan from Chloe.

She knew that she had given him the satisfaction that he pleasured her. Had they not been dating, she would have tried everything her will power allowed her to do to make sure that Alek didn't know what affect he had on her. But, ever since their first kiss, ever since he became her boyfriend, she realized that, if she egged him on just a little bit, she might be teased for a second, but, in the end, she would still win when Alek became more confident and kissed her even more.

That's exactly what happened. The second that Chloe's moan reached Alek's ears, his primal instincts took over. He slowed things down for a moment as he smiled against Chloe's skin, letting the breath of his chuckle send shivers down her spine. But, just as Chloe was slowly beginning to think that the game was over, Alek spun Chloe around in her chair and slammed his lips against hers.

This kiss was filled with more need, more lust than any other kiss they had shared. It was filled with passion and the amount of fire and heat equivalent to that of the core of the earth. Alek practically ripped Chloe out of the seat, so quickly that she didn't have time to gain some balance. Alek quickly wrapped an arm around Chloe's waist. He was supporting her completely. Her feet weren't even close to touching the ground since, for, when Alek pulled Chloe up, he used all of the strength he had to pull her as close to him as possible. Chloe's head was now above Alek's and it was he who was straining his neck upwards to kiss her.

Chloe's mouth had already been open from her moan when Alek caught her off guard. They had instantly engaged in a battle of dominance with their tongues. Chloe was slowly beginning to lose the battle, but, once again, she knew that, if she gave in to Alek, she wouldn't leave empty handed. When Alek had the upper hand, he made sure that Chloe wasn't left in the pleasure-less dust.

Alek was pouring everything that he could into their kiss. Even though it wasn't much that she did, and the moment wasn't really that dramatic or difficult, Chloe had helped Alek in his time of need. All he wanted to do at the moment was thank her by pleasing her. Their battle for dominance at the moment was one of the most important fights that Alek had ever fought. He knew that he had to win so that he could achieve his goal of providing Chloe with every inch of satisfaction that he could. He knew that Chloe didn't know of his intentions, which is why she just wouldn't give up. But Alek was so motivated that he continued to fight.

He noticed her will slowly deteriorating. He knew that he was winning the fight and he felt Chloe give in. The vibrations from yet another moan entered Alek's mouth, signaling that he had won and that he was in charge as of this moment.

Chloe wrapped her legs around Alek's midsection to secure her position in his arms. Only at this point in time did it click that Alek wasn't wearing a shirt. His abs were exposed to her and she could feel his body heat through her shirt. She slipped one arm that was around his neck out and began to run her fingers up and down his chest. Her nails gently scratched the skin on his perfectly chiseled muscles. Finally, it was her turn to elicit a moan from Alek.

Alek's arm changed positions from around Chloe's waist to under her butt to make sure that she didn't slide down in his hold. This pushed Chloe up in height in Alek's arms, disconnecting their kiss for a moment.

Alek wasted no time in placing his lips back onto Chloe's neck. This time, he traced her collar bone, sucking until Chloe could feel a bruise occurring, but then leaving the spot to focus on another one before his mark could be made. Chloe was slowly getting frustrated that Alek wasn't actually marking her. It's not that she wanted to announce to the world that she was Alek's with a hickey, but she did want him to mark her as his somehow.

"Alek," Chloe meekly whimpered, "I have homework to finish." She knew that, now, Alek would want to convince her that this was worth putting off homework at the moment.

And she was quite right. Alek subconsciously figured out what Chloe wanted and made his way towards the back of Chloe's neck. She rested her head on his shoulder to give Alek more comfortable access.

He bit down roughly, but gently enough not to hurt her, as she dug her nails into his muscles. She was bringing out the animal in him and he was having such a hard time controlling himself.

Alek backed up a little bit to the bed and sat on it. Chloe placed her knees on the covers so that she was now straddling Alek. His hands left their place under her butt and started to run up and down on her thighs. She was wearing shorts, as she had changed into a tank top and shorts for sleeping while Alek was in the shower, and so, when he ran his hands up for the first time, his hands went under her shorts, brushing up against a piece of cloth that he figured was her underwear. Chloe's head was still on Alek's shoulder, still gladly giving into him. Her hand had moved up from his chest to his shoulders and her other hand that was tangled up in his damp hair did the same. She gripped his shoulders tightly as Alek, once again, bit into her skin.

He was almost satisfied with his work. He knew he had just a little bit more to go and he would have marked her as his. He could hear Chloe's heartbeat and it was beating so loudly and so rapidly that he was surprised it hadn't jumped out of her chest already.

Alek's lips eventually let go of Chloe's neck and he took a second to look at his work. He could see the darker pigments begin to appear on her skin. His admiring his work didn't last very long though.

Chloe had had enough of Alek being dominant. She got what she wanted and was now ready to take control herself. She pushed Alek onto the covers. Although they had lied down sideways on the bed, Alek somehow managed to push them so that his head was resting on her pillow.

She smirked at him from above, her hair falling around their heads, making a cave for them. Alek placed his hands on her hips as she slowly lowered her head to his. She was just about to kiss him when he leaned up to meet her, but then she pulled away, smirking at him once again.

She leaned down again and Alek tried to meet her lips again, but she turned her head, causing him to kiss her cheek. Before Alek could try and regain control, Chloe pulled away a few inches. Alek would have tried to kiss her again, but her hands were pushing him down on his shoulders preventing him from moving much. He was stronger than her, yes, but he didn't want to ruin the moment, and he also kind of liked Chloe being on top of him. He found this dominant side of her very alluring.

Over the past few days, Alek had witnessed various sides of Chloe. A confident side, a sexy side, a much more witty side, and now this, a dominant side. He couldn't help but like her more and more and find her more and more attractive every time he witnessed something new. He decided to give in to her, even for just a moment, to appreciate this side of her. He let his goal of thanking her by pleasuring her slip to be the back of his mind for a little while.

Chloe dipped her head under Alek's chin instead of kissing him. She placed kisses all along his collar bone, going back and forth, back and forth. One hand kept a grip on his shoulder while the other traveled back down to his abs, running her fingers up and down.

"Chloe…" Alek moaned in need. He did like this side of her, but he was beginning to be seriously impatient. He wanted her lips on his and he wanted them there _now_.

Chloe merely hummed in response, the vibrations tickling his skin where her lips were. His patience was becoming thinner and thinner by the second.

"Kiss me…" His voice was still slightly weaker than he wished that it would be, but it was much stronger than before. It was more demanding.

Chloe lifted her head off of Alek's skin and looked into his eyes. All she saw was need and lust and she knew that it was what Alek saw in her eyes as well. She slowly bent her head downwards towards Alek's lips as he reached a hand out to turn off the lights, knowing that things would feel more satisfactory in the dark than if the lights were on.

Chloe finally placed her lips on Alek's. She wanted to take it slowly, to taunt him a little bit more, to keep the upper hand just for a little longer. But, the moment that her lips fell onto his, Alek remembered his initial desire to satisfy Chloe.

Catching her off guard once again, Alek rolled them over so that he was now hovering over Chloe. He never detached his lips from hers, though. Instead, he deepened the kiss. He pressed himself into her as she lay under him. He had swung his leg over hers so that now, she was in between his legs like he was in between hers seconds ago. His hands were placed above Chloe's head so that she wasn't crushed by the entirety of his weight, but only by a little bit. In all honesty, Chloe kind of liked the pressure.

Alek dropped an arm to the rim of her shorts, running his fingers along the skin on top of them. He gently slid his hand under Chloe's shirt, skimming the skin on her stomach. He left traces of fire on her skin, but his hand was traveling higher and higher on her body, slowly, of course.

This was giving Chloe a slight problem. As much as she loved Alek's touch, she wasn't exactly ready to take things to the next physical level. Yes, she knew that it felt like things had moved quickly emotionally, but that was just because it was a long time coming. Physically, she wasn't ready to do anything more than making out. As a result, she pushed herself deeper into the bed, a little bit away from Alek's body. She may not have wanted to go too far, but she also didn't want to ruin the lovely make out session they were having.

Alek could tell that something was wrong when some touch was lost between his and Chloe's body. He realized that she had pushed herself deeper into the covers, as if trying to give Alek a sign of some sort. He, being the smart and caring person that he is, understood immediately what was wrong. And he completely understood the reasons why.

He slipped his hand lower on Chloe's stomach, as if telling her that he got it. He knew that she would let him know when she's ready. He was more experienced in the romance field than she was, so they would have to take things at her pace. But, as long as she was happy with him, he was completely okay with taking things slow.

That didn't stop their make out session, of course. It proceeded for quite some time. Somehow, Chloe and Alek made it under the covers. Eventually, their heated kisses melted into gazing into each other's eyes and sharing soft, sweet and short kisses.

Soon enough, they were asleep.

Chloe woke up with a pair of lips pressing against hers. A hand rested on her hip and she felt someone hovering over her slightly. For a moment, her senses were gone and she couldn't figure out who was making her feel so good and who was waking her up in the best way possible.

The warmth of the lips quickly disappeared and was replaced by a sweet sound with a lovely British accent.

"Good morning, Chloe," Dear goodness, how she loved the way her name sounded in his voice. She would gladly sit in a room for a few hours and listen to a recording of him saying it over and over and over again.

"Mmm, good morning." Chloe rolled over to snuggle into Alek, only to receive a chuckle in response.

"Come on, sweetheart, we have to get up. School starts relatively soon." Alek didn't seem like he wanted to get out of bed either, but he was more responsible at the moment.

"I have a question for you." Chloe was now just stalling for time.

"Shoot."

"Did your thesis ever prove to be true?"

"What thesis?"

"The one where you said that your basketball friends would make fun of you for being whipped."

"Oh, that one. Um, not yet, but give them a week or two and then I'll enter hell. Now, stop stalling and get out of bed." Alek chuckled. He left the bed, making Chloe's niche under the covers much colder than they should be.

It was gloomy and dark again, making it the perfect weather to just stay in bed all day and sleep. Chloe groaned and slid further down the bed, covering her head with the blanket.

"Come on, sleeping beauty, you have to wake up." No response. "Fine, I'm going to go wash up and, when I get out, you have to get out of bed."

Alek went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and such. He came back into the room and Chloe restarted the conversation as if he had never left.

"But when you leave to get some clothes, how do you know I won't just slide back under the covers?"

"Because I'm not leaving for new clothes. I already have some clothes here in your drawers."

Chloe shot up from under the covers to find Alek truly opening up a drawer and pulling out one of his own shirts. Chloe wasn't in shock from the fact that he had invaded her drawers. She didn't mind. There wasn't anything there that he hadn't seen before… _I think_. She was in shock from how he tricked her last night.

"And when exactly did these clothes appear in my drawers?" Chloe inquired.

"About a few days ago, when I went to my apartment to talk to Valentina. I slipped into your room and threw some shirts and pants in here before I entered through the door."

"So, if you had clothes here, why exactly didn't you put a shirt on yesterday?"

"Well, then we wouldn't have had the fun that we did." Alek threw Chloe a smirk, making her blush a little bit.

Suddenly, Alek pulled down his, well, Chloe's sweatpants to replace them with a pair of jeans.

"Boxers guy. Good to know," Chloe teased him for a moment. She thought that he had forgotten that she was in the room when he did that.

"Chloe," She could see that he was trying to hide a blush.

"Yes, Alek?" Chloe attempted to feign innocence.

"Go get ready for school."

The couple got ready and had breakfast together, throwing jokes at each other ever so often. They walked into school hand in hand again, but this time, the rumors and the whispers weren't as insane as they were the day before. The school seemed to be adjusting to this news quickly.

The day went by quickly, nothing out of the ordinary. Alek had lunch with Jasmine, Chloe, Amy and Paul. He was surprisingly grateful that Paul was there, making sure that he wasn't the only male specimen surrounded by the three girls.

After school, Alek walked Chloe to work. He sat in the coffee shop, waiting for Chloe's shift to end. Everything was going smoothly until about ten minutes before the shop was supposed to close. Chloe had already started locking things up when the door opened and Brian walked in.

"Um, hey, Chloe," he muttered shyly. Obviously, Alek was right about him not knowing that she was the Uniter, because his tone would have been different, which was good to know. On the other hand, how dare he come in and pretend like nothing is wrong?

"Brian." She addressed him coldly. The tables had turned since their last encounter.

"Listen, I know you're still mad at me for what I said yesterday, and I just wanted to apologize. So, I'm sorry." No response. "So, we're good?"

Chloe turned around to face him with an expression on her face that clearly read as "what the hell?"

"No, Brian, we are not _good_. Sure, you apologized for being an ass to me, but there is no way I'm forgiving you in the near future for randomly beating up Alek." Chloe glared at him, waiting to see what his excuse was this time. She also had to be really careful with her words, so that Brian wouldn't guess that she knew anything.

"That tattletale told you, huh?"

"Well, what was he supposed to say? He shows up on my doorstep covered in mud and bruises and his own blood. What was going to tell me? That he tripped and fell?"

"In my defense, Chloe, he didn't fight back. He could have, but he didn't."

"How in the world is that in your defense? Alek was being a gentleman and you just made yourself look like a monster." Alek had been paying attention from the moment Brian walked in but now that he was brought into the conversation in such a way, he was about to intervene.

"Hey, I was not a monster. I just did what I felt would do me justice for the way you treated me." Brian's tone changed from apologetic and defensive to threatening.

"For the way she treated you?" Alek had finally intervened. "_You_ pestered her and treated her as if you were dating even after she made clear that she just wanted to be friends. Not to mention that _you_ falsely calling her a whore yesterday crossed the line on its own."

"Stay out of this, Brit boy. This is between me and your girlfriend. She and I were talking."

Chloe came up to Alek and wrap her hands around Alek's bicep, like she would when the would walk down a street sometimes.

"And you and I are now done talking."

"Chloe…" He sounded as if he was about to explode with rage. Chloe was actually terrified for a moment.

"I suggest you leave, Brian. Or else, this time, I won't be such a gentleman."

Brian just looked at the two and gave them a look saying "I'll be back". The boy just never gives up, does he?

Alek then turned to Chloe to look at her. She was smirking at him, waiting for him to make a comment.

"So, you think I'm a gentleman, huh?" Alek was pushing Chloe back slowly, until her back hit the counter. His hands placed themselves naturally on her waist.

"Well, on occasions."

"You know, right now, after the way you spoke to Brian, the last thing I want to do is be a gentleman."

Chloe threw her head back in laughter as a response.

"Just help me lock up, Brit boy." Chloe ordered, simultaneously mocking Brian and his lack of creative nick names.

**Woot! Chapter 6 done! Isn't this exciting! 2 chapters in 2 days!**

**Anyways, thanks for reading, and please review. I really do appreciate those.**

**I hope you liked it! **


	7. Movies

**Chapter 7! Yeah, we're going along pretty quickly, aren't we? Well, relatively. Haha. **

**Thank you all so much for the reviews and, as always, thank you to Kalilong7 for helping me with the outlines!**

**I've gotten a review or two about my missing a grammar mistake or two and I seriously apologize for that. When I edit, I really do try to fix those, but sometimes the occasional one escapes me. Sorry!**

**Anyways, without further ado, here's chapter 7.**

The week went by as usual. The rumors at school had died down and most people, especially girls, were becoming accustomed to the fact that Alek and Chloe were now both off of the market. Of course there was the occasional girl who would try to give Chloe a hard time, but then she gave up once she saw that she wasn't affecting Chloe at all.

The three Mai still had training, but now Alek would sometimes let Chloe win, just because seeing her smile made him smile. And plus, if he didn't win a race, he'd still win somewhere else.

It was Friday morning when Chloe first woke up to an empty bed. The covers were still warm, so Alek couldn't have left too long ago. Also, just the night before, he had taken his dirty clothes to the wash in his apartment and traded them for some clean ones. Jasmine just gave him a joking look of disapproval, but she was totally fine with doing his laundry once or twice. Especially when he actually paid her a compliment saying that she was "the best cousin ever".

Chloe opened one eye to look at the clock that Alek gave her. The watch read 6:30, making it too early for her to get up. School started at eight, so there was no need for her to get up any time before seven. She shut her eyes again and attempted to go back to sleep.

She never really fell asleep, but she did manage to drift off into a semi dream world, where she was still capable of somewhat controlling what she was seeing behind her eyelids.

She was brought out of this by a pair of soft lips lingering on her forehead.

"Good morning, sweetheart. It's time to get up." A sweet and soft whisper filled her ears as she felt a smooth hand brush away a strand of her hair.

Chloe groaned in response and moving as if she was about to get out of bed, but didn't. This resulted from a chuckle from the blonde male.

"I made chocolate chip pancakes…" Alek sung. Instantaneously, Chloe's eyes shot open not only were they chocolate chip pancakes, but they were chocolate. Like, that stuff that basically got Alek and Chloe together in the first place. Or at least helped.

Alek laughed and pushed himself out of the squat position that he was in to wake Chloe up. Chloe swung her legs over the edge of the bed and took Alek's hand to get up.

"Come on, get ready and come downstairs. I'll set the table."

Alek leaned down for a kiss, but Chloe rapidly turned her head to avoid his lips and gave him her cheek instead. Alek looked at her with panic in his eyes, as if he had done something wrong. Chloe simply smiled at him in response.

"I am so not letting you kiss me while I still have morning breath," Chloe joked, slipping her hand out of Alek's and making her way to her bathroom. "See you downstairs!" Alek sighed in defeat before going back downstairs.

The pancakes that Alek made turned out to be delicious. Chloe was slightly apprehensive as to how they would taste, but, as it turns out, Alek was a fantastic cook. He said that, one day, he would make Chloe a legitimate dinner. And that she could be his little helper, of course. She scowled at the last part, but figured that it could have been worse.

Oh, and, if you're wondering, Alek did end up getting his morning kiss. More than once.

School passed by smoothly. The three Mai, Amy and Paul all sat at one table again. Chloe didn't have work that night, so Alek decided that they could walk around the city for a little while. They technically were dating for almost a week now, but, in that week, they hadn't been on one official date, even though they spent almost every hour of the day attached at the hip, sometimes even alone. But, Alek wanted to do things the right way and Chloe was far from complaining about it.

After school, Amy offered to take Alek and Chloe's back packs and leave them at Chloe's place so that their walk/date didn't have to be interrupted by bags. Chloe quickly reached to grab her wallet just in case, but Alek told her that she didn't need it. Chloe almost melted on the spot from affection for that. Alek didn't even have a clue as to how he affected her with the words "you won't need it. I'll get it."

Chloe had argued just a little bit, for the sake of social protocol, but she was so weakened, in a good way, that she caved in within a few seconds. Alek wrapped his arm around her shoulders while she wrapped hers around his waist as the proceeded to walk.

After a few minutes, Alek pulled Chloe into a small coffee shop just to grab a quick drink while they walked. Chloe, by instinct, reached for her wallet that was supposed to be in her pocket, but then remembered that Alek had told her not to bring it. She was silently taken over by yet another wave of affection towards her boyfriend. She and Brian didn't go Dutch once. And he made a big deal out of it. Ass hole.

They resumed their previous positions as they left the coffee shop with hot drinks in hand. They talked about dear goodness knows what. They managed to be able to have a conversation about anything. Alek was humorous, witty, curious and intelligent, and so was Chloe. With those four traits, you can have any conversation possible, no matter the situation or the mood.

Their conversation was light, not dipping into any serious matters, but spreading out over a large variety of topics. They subconsciously were surprised themselves that they could talk non-stop about anything they wanted. It was just so comfortable and blissful.

Alek and Chloe decided to go into a store and rent a movie. Maybe their entire new "gang" could start a tradition of watching something together on a Friday night. Alek opened the door for Chloe, proving, yet again, that he was a classic gentleman, even if he was a cocky bastard sometimes.

Chloe went to one side of the store while Alek went to the other, thinking that they could cover the store faster by working their way to the middle.

Of course Alek had "accidentally" sent her to the romantic comedy section. There were three options: Alek could have been taunting her, Alek knew that, if Chloe had a movie of her choice, then he would be able to watch a movie of his choice, i.e., an action movie, or Alek was just being perfect. Again. As always. Surprise, surprise.

Alek ended up taking some action movie, but he actually seemed excited to watch Chloe's choice, which was quite surprising. They paid for the films, but decided to browse a little bit more just for the sake of knowing what this store has to offer. Once again, they took the store from two sides.

Chloe's browsing was interrupted by a voice that sounded vaguely familiar, but not familiar enough to start dreading the prospect of seeing the person to whom the voice belonged.

"Hey, sexy lady," Tyler had one arm against the wall, ready to trap Chloe, once again. "How about you and I ditch this place and go have some fun in an alley?" Tyler began to walk closer to Chloe, who just stared at him with shock. Seriously? Has this guy completely lost it? I mean, after their encounter in the hallway, you'd think that he got the picture. But nope. Not this one.

Alek was in front of her within a millisecond, Chloe didn't even have time to comprehend how that was even possible. And boy, did he look pissed.

"I suggest you step away from my girlfriend, Tyler." Alek spoke through clenched teeth and practically spat out the name as if it was acid.

"Hey, man, you said you'd hurt me if I laid a finger on Chloe. I have yet to do that. I will, but I haven't yet." He was too smug for his own good.

"Seriously, it would be in your best interest if you left. Right now." Alek's hands had transformed into such tight fists that his knuckles were white. Not even Chloe wrapping her hand around Alek's arm could calm him down at the moment.

"Come on, man. You can't be that selfish to keep such a fine piece of ass like that all to yourself!" Tyler crossed a line there.

Chloe barely managed to let go of Alek's arm as his fist whipped through the air and collided with Tyler's left cheek, sending him stumbling backwards. He never fell, although his cheek was red and his nose was starting to trickle a little bit of blood. Tyler put his hand to his bruising cheek and stared at Alek in awe.

"'Laying a finger' is also a figurative expression," Alek growled as he put his arm on Chloe's back and led her out of the store after throwing a final glare at Tyler.

Chloe couldn't stop staring at Alek in awe. She should have known that chivalry wasn't dead, especially not with a guy like Alek around. She didn't say a word for a few minutes, waiting for Alek to calm down. Suddenly, he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and turned to Chloe.

"If he ever comes within a hundred foot radius of you…" Alek trailed off with a hanging threat. Chloe simply smiled at him in response.

"Alek, as much as I _love_ the fact that chivalry isn't dead and that my boyfriend knows how to throw a very good punch, I can handle myself. Especially around a human like him. Remember? Super-human Mai powers? Yeah, I have those." Chloe laughed a little bit, attempting to lighten the mood a little bit. And that, thankfully, worked.

"Just promise me that you won't even say yes to one of his propositions?" Chloe raised her eyebrow at him. "I mean, I know you won't, but still? Promise me?"

Chloe looked at him straight in the eyes, grabbed hold of Alek's hands for balance and lifted herself on her toes. She planted a kiss on Alek's lips and lingered for a moment, pouring in all of the assurance and serenity that she could, before resting the heels of her feet back on the ground.

"I promise."

"Thank goodness." Alek draped his arm over Chloe's before continuing to walk forward. Chloe smiled to herself about how… perfect, for lack of a better word that would come even close to describing him, Alek was. Just perfect.

As they continued to walk, the gravitated towards the park right next to the water. The sun was peeking through the clouds for the first time in a week and, since they knew that it was supposed to be gloomy for another week or two, they took advantage of the sunlight streaming in and took a seat on a bench right by the water. Alek kept his arm on Chloe's shoulder while she placed her hand on Alek's leg right about his knee and snuggled closer to him.

They sat in a comfortable silence as they admired the view they had. Alek would occasionally stretch his hand, the one he had used to punch Tyler. His knuckles were a little bit sore and Chloe could feel him trying to make them feel better without disrupting their moment. Chloe simply rested her hand on Alek's and her cool touch would soothe him instantly. It was like magic.

Alek stared at Chloe in awe. How in the world did he get lucky enough to be with this girl? She was so original. She didn't let rumors of people who didn't matter in her life affect her. She could stand her own and fight her own battles, but wasn't afraid to ask for help, or at least allow for it to come. And even if she didn't need anyone's help, she let him fight a battle or two for her, as if she understood that it was something that he simply needed to do. He loved the fact that she let him make it known that she was his without freaking out about him being so possessive.

She wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty, literally and figuratively. She wasn't constantly aware of what she looked like and she never _really_ worried. Well, she worried enough to make herself look presentable, but Alek always thought that she was beautiful at all times. Her smile lit up a room, and she constantly had one resting on her face. When she needed to get something done, she would try as hard as she could to finish it. She cared so much for the people around her that sometimes, she even forgot to take care of herself. She had a solid head on her shoulders and Alek knew that she wasn't planning on losing that any time soon. She was perfection personified.

Chloe was staring out at the water with a soft smile on her face. She looked so serene and Alek couldn't help but allow a smile to appear on his own face. She had this aura about her that just wanted to make Alek run to the highest mountain and scream with pride that he was the only one at the moment to have the honor to be called Chloe King's boyfriend.

A sudden thought hit Alek that, just a few weeks ago, would have scared the living daylights out of him. He knew that it was something he was trying to suppress, but, now, it had surfaced in his thoughts and he couldn't have been more relieved to have that sorted out.

_I'm falling in love with Chloe King._

Alek smiled wider to himself and readjusted his grip on Chloe's shoulders, bringing her just a little bit closer to him.

Meanwhile, Chloe was admiring Alek in the same way as he was admiring her. She was thinking about all of the wonderful things that Alek presented himself to be. Sure, he could be a cocky bastard sometimes, but at least he was funny and always put some sort of a smile on Chloe's face. And, if she really needed him to be, he would be serious, and he would be her rock. But he wasn't afraid to be vulnerable. When she was cleaning him up in her kitchen after his encounter with Brian and the Order, he didn't make a show of how he didn't need to be babied. He allowed Chloe to take care of him without a complaint or without a blow to his manhood. The best part about being with Alek was the fact that, with him, she always felt so safe. It wasn't like a boring relationship, there were most definitely a few questions hanging in the air, but she knew that, no matter what, Alek would always stand up for her and have her best interest at heart.

She realized that she was falling for Alek, and she was falling for him quickly.

_It probably has been a long time coming,_ Chloe thought as she rested her head on Alek's shoulder when he brought her closer to him. She remembered when he was about to kiss her in the hallway before this whole Mai stuff happened. She pretended like she was apprehensive, but, deep down, she wanted it so badly…

Wait a minute.

Before the whole Mai thing… The kissing curse… Alek was going to kiss her…

"You tried to kill me!" Chloe sat up abruptly with an amused expression on her face. Not only was she amused by her epiphany, but now she was also amused by the expression of shock and confusion that Alek wore.

Alek just stared at her in shock and panic before he sat up as well to try and clear his name.

"What? Chloe, you know I would never do that! How could I ever—" Chloe cut him off with her laughter. He actually thought that she was mad at him when she was grinning at him like an idiot!

Alek just stared at her as if she was from another planet. Not Mai, not human, not from Earth.

"Just to clarify things, what exactly where you referring to when you said that I tried to kill you?" Alek could feel a blush begin to creep up on his face. Oh, this girl…

"Before we found out that I was Mai but after I threw the basketball, remember when you cornered me in the hallway? Had it not been for Jasmine, you would have kissed me. And, since we didn't know that I was Mai at the time, that would have killed me!" Chloe was trying to formulate her words clearly, which was slightly difficult to do as she was cracking up between every phrase.

"Well, uh… I, uh…. See, the thing is… um…" Alek was trying to find some sort of way to not make it seem like he really was the bad guy here. Even though he knew that, no matter what he said, Chloe would laugh at his answer. No matter what.

"Um, I figured out from the basketball shot that you probably were… So, I kind of knew in the back of my head… which is why I tried to kiss you…" The last part sounded more like a question than a statement.

His prediction came true as Chloe laughed for a second and then snuggled back into his body on the bench with a smile of victory.

"Oh, silly Alek."

_She may have won this round, but the war is not over,_ Alek thought to himself after a while. But, for now, he was more than happy with hanging out and being together in silence as they were now. He'd get her back eventually.

Later that night, Amy and Paul were taking up that couch as the two of them, Alek and Chloe waited on Jasmine to show up for their movie night. They were going to watch Chloe's choice of film, _He's Just Not That Into You_. It was possibly her favorite movie in the entire world, and she couldn't believe that Alek was the one who suggested that they watch it. Alek was already sitting on the armchair, waiting for Chloe to come to the living room area with the popcorn.

Eventually, Chloe came towards the TV with three bowls of popcorn. Somehow, she managed to balance them all together. Before Chloe even had the chance to straighten up after placing the snacks on the table, she felt Alek's arms snake around her and pull her into him onto the armchair. Chloe simply threw a playful glare at him before readjusting herself in Alek's arms. One arm was under Chloe's back and the other rested across her stomach while Chloe leaned against one arm of the chair and threw her legs over the other, placing on arm behind Alek's head and the other by her side. Alek then draped the blanket that was hanging on the back of the chair over them, kind of placing them in their own private world. Chloe, meanwhile, had the remote control in her hand, ready to press play the moment that Jasmine walked through the doors.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Jasmine graced the two couples with her presence. But, she wasn't alone. A guy that was tall and dark, and quite handsome, came with her.

"Hey, guys, I hope you don't mind that I brought Eric with me. Honestly, we're watching a chick flick and I don't want to be the awkward fifth wheel," Jasmine chuckled to finish her explanation.

"Hi, I'm, uh, Eric." He said awkwardly. The four people already in movie watching position introduced themselves as Jasmine and Eric got comfortable on the loveseat. Chloe and Amy looked at each other and then at Jasmine, giving her a "we will be talking about this later" look. Paul and Alek exchanged a look that read "oh, boy".

Paul became beyond excited that he had just shared his first look with Alek. Had Amy not been in his arms, he would have done a jig.

They began to watch the movie in silence. Jasmine and Eric somehow ended up snuggling together, Jasmine purposefully avoiding the eyes of Amy and Chloe, knowing what is going to come eventually, avoiding the inevitable. Amy and Paul were just being their awkwardly adorable selves together. Alek and Chloe had somehow managed, although it was thought to be impossible, to snuggle closer to one another.

"_You are my exception"_ Justin Long spoke in the movie. It was nearing towards the end, where some people finally were getting their happy endings.

"And you are mine," Alek whispered in Chloe's ears.

Never had she ever heard sweeter words spoken to her. She looked up to Alek to find only love in his eyes. She was positive that hers reflected the same exact emotion.

No words were needed to be said as Chloe placed her hand on Alek's neck and pulled his head down to place his lips on top of hers.

**Yes! Yet another chapter finished! Sorry it took longer to update, I had a very busy weekend.**

**This chapter turned out to be a lot more mindset description than action description. Sorry about that, if you didn't like it, but I promise that the next chapter is going to have SO much fluff in it, especially towards the end ;)**

**Thanks for reading and I hoped that you liked it! Please review! They're always loved and appreciated **


	8. Beach

**I'm still alive….**

**I am so sorry it took forever to update. I was experiencing writer's block, and I still kind of am, but it's coming to an end, I think, so I thought that I might as well go for it.**

**One a side note, YES. CHLOE IS FINALLY (kind of) GETTING HER HEAD STRAIGHT IN THE SHOW! WOOT! Haha**

**Also, thank you all so much for the reviews! I really appreciate each and every one. I try and reply to every single one of them, but, if I skipped over someone, I am terribly sorry, but thank you for reviewing! **

**Anyways, without further ado, I present chapter 8.**

Alek was glaring at Chloe, who was trying her best not to start laughing in front of him. She knew that she would crack up the moment she closed the door. Alek would still hear her, but at least it wasn't to his face…

Eric, who turned out to be Jasmine's "boyfriend", left after the movie ended, but the rest of them had accidentally slept over, most falling asleep in the middle of the second film. No one even remembered what it was.

The day was spent normally, Chloe and Jasmine had some training while Alek had to keep up with his social life and host the watching of some basketball game showing on the TV. Eric had some family things to take care of and Amy dragged Paul to do a little bit of shopping with her. Poor boy.

They had all met back up at Chloe's house around 5 in the afternoon to figure out what they were planning on doing. Amy had a sudden idea to have a girl's night in. That kind of implied that there would be a boy's night in, or out, separately. Eric, once again, had some family things to worry about. Alek was suspicious about this, but Jasmine explained to him that his little brother was changing and becoming Mai relatively quickly, so Eric, being the sweet guy that he was, wanted to help him out as much as he can.

That left Alek and Paul.

Alek couldn't just leave Paul, because that would mean offending him. Which would mean offending Chloe. Which he didn't want to do. At all. Under no circumstances. That girl is sweeter than apple pie, but, get on her bad side… Well, Alek didn't want to think about what would happen then. He's seen it, when she was fighting the Order, but, with him, it might be different.

Alek groaned. He was going to be stuck with Paul. He's actually not that bad, but, the moment Paul heard about their boy's night, he got this expression on his face that told Alek that he was about to get bombarded by questions.

Alek looked at Chloe. She was biting her lip, trying so hard not to laugh at him. It was sweet, in a sense, but evil, nonetheless. Although she did look sexy biting her lip like that…

"You so owe me for this," he grumbled.

"Oh, come on, Alek! It can't be that bad!" Chloe attempted to reason with him.

"Yeah, Alek. Be nice. You might learn a thing or two. Paul can plant an idea in your head, and we can try it out later. Who knows, maybe we'll discover some ancient Mai power that has been hidden for centuries!" Jasmine tried to help Chloe.

Alek through a look towards Paul, one that said that he doubted that Jasmine was right, and received a sheepish grin from Paul in response.

"You have one hour to ask me all of the questions you want. One hour. I am timing it. The moment the buzzer goes off, there will be no more Mai-related questions. We'll move on to another topic or watch a game or something. With absolutely no questions. Got it?" Alek tried to sound menacing, but, in all honesty, he was actually starting to warm up to the guy.

"I promise you, Alek. One hour and I'll shut up. Pinkie promise!" Paul held up his pinkie but received a slightly regretful smile from Alek which made him drop his hand.

"See, Alek? It's not that bad!" Amy spoke as she went up to Paul to give him a hug and a kiss goodbye.

Alek observed the two for a millisecond before turning to Chloe.

"Don't I get something to last me through the night?" He put on his best puppy dog face for her.

Chloe smiled at Alek and walked through the doorway closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her hips and reached up to kiss him. It was soft, yet passionate. This was, after all, the longest that they would ever be without each other ever since they started going out. Alek wrapped his arms fully around Chloe's waist, bent his knees and lifted her off of the ground. She ended up screaming a little bit into his mouth from surprise, but pulled away and laughed, keeping herself in Alek's arms, feet floating about a foot above the ground.

They both loved each other. Something told each one that the other one did, but neither wanted to be the one to say it first, just in case.

Alek knew that he was falling in love with Chloe for ages. He was trying to suppress his feelings as much as he could, but after a certain point in time, he just decided to let them run wild.

Chloe's love for Alek had completely snuck up on her. She wasn't expecting her to fall in love with the cocky British Mai, but it happened. What surprised her the most was that she wasn't scared of her feelings for him. She was actually completely okay with them and welcomed them with pleasure. Now just to somehow tell him…

Their relationship was moving quite quickly, but it seemed so natural for them that neither was scared by their feelings. They embraced what they felt for the other. They just didn't say a word out of fear for scaring the other person. So they kept their feelings to themselves until they felt that the time was right.

Alek and Paul eventually left, allowing Chloe, Amy and Jasmine to begin their night filled with completely sappy chick flicks, worse than _He's Just Not That Into You_, something that the boys couldn't handle, accompanied with manicures, gossip and maybe even a pillow fight. It sounds cliché, I know, but it's still fun!

Jasmine was actually dying to try out a recipe for a cake that she was planning on baking for Eric's birthday which was coming up in about two weeks. So, she made Amy and Chloe her testers. If they got food poisoning, at least she would know not to ruin Eric's birthday.

They mixed, beat and stirred the ingredients until it went into the oven. As they waited for the cake to bake, the three girls took a seat in the living room to begin their gossip.

"So… Jasmine…" Chloe made wiggly eyebrows to her, anticipating answers and details.

"Eric, eh?" Amy joined in. "He's kind of cute!"

"Hey, back off my man. You have Paul." Jasmine playfully warned.

"Come on! Spill! Who, what, when, where, why, and how!" Chloe demanded like a little girl.

"Well, I had to do something while you and Alek were off doing god knows what!"

"Just answer the questions!"

"Well, who is it? Eric. What is he? I guess he's my boyfriend, although we never really talked about it. He's Mai, though, thank goodness. When? Around Monday, I believe. Where? He lives on the 12th floor, but we met in the elevator. Why? He's cute, funny and so nice. How? I had groceries, and a little bit too many of them. He stepped into the elevator and held the door open for me, and then helped me get the groceries into my house and into my kitchen. We started talking and, since Mom was gone, I asked him if he wanted to stay for dinner and he said yes. He's eighteen, though, so just a little bit older than we are." Jasmine explained.

"Finally! I swear, Jas, I thought that you were asexual or something!" All three girls burst out laughing from Chloe's comment.

"What about you, Amy? How are things going with Paul?" Jasmine liked Eric, but, since she had never really had a girlfriend before, let alone two, she wasn't the most comfortable with talking about boys as much as Amy and Chloe probably were. She still needed some more practice, so she diverted the conversation to Amy.

"He's such a dork. It's great. I'm never bored, he's just so cute!" Amy had a momentary flip out, accompanied by raised eyebrows coming from the two Mai. "What? He is! I mean, there's not much to say. We've been going out for a while, so there isn't really anything new or awkward in our relationship. But he continues to surprise me with how sweet he is. I feel like I should have gotten used to it by now, but I haven't!"

"Aw, I'm happy for you! I am also so glad that you two didn't make me the third wheel when you started dating. I was always rooting for you two, but that was my one setback about a relationship between you. Thank you for being inclusive!" Chloe hugged Amy quickly.

"Well, enough about us. Jasmine doesn't want to talk and I don't have much to say. So, spill about Alek. Now, woman. I never got details!"

"Hey, before you tell us about your romance, may I remind you that that is my cousin you're talking about? I mean, sure, you two are cute together, and I have been rooting for you two for _forever_, but spare some of the really intricate details, please. He's my cousin and I don't want to think about him doing anything… in that way…" Jasmine trailed off awkwardly.

"Don't worry, there isn't much to say. We've made out a few times, that's all. But, I'm sorry, Jas, but your cousin is _such_ an amazing kisser! And he's a gentleman! And he's just so… perfect!"

"Dear goodness, Chloe. You sound you're in love with him," Amy commented.

When Chloe didn't respond, Amy and Jasmine's eyes widened at the speed of light.

"You're in love with my cousin?" Jasmine cried.

"Don't yell that so loudly! He might be within hearing distance and I wouldn't know what to do! It's only been a week since our first kiss, I don't want to scare him off."

"But aren't you scared by your rapid feelings?" Amy asked. It took her a few months to love Paul as not only a friend but as a boyfriend.

"She should be, but she isn't." Jasmine interrupted. Amy and Chloe turned to her to look at her quizzically. "Please, even I have seen this coming for forever. I'm surprised that it even took this long, for crying out loud. I mean, seriously? He found out that you were available to him two months ago, and he's been crushing on you since he first met you two years ago, and he acts upon this just _a week_ ago?" Jasmine shook her head just thinking about.

Chloe avoided going into detail about Alek with Jasmine, even though she really wanted to freak out. However, she figured that she would flip out with Amy later on, when Jasmine wouldn't hear what she didn't want to and Alek wouldn't hear anything to feed his ego. Although it was kind of sexy… And Chloe did always get something out of it…

What was great about Chloe and Alek's relationship was that their relationship wasn't just physical. It was emotional and intellectual as well. It was a perfect balance. Chloe had no idea how they found the balance, but they worked together so perfectly in every different aspect that it just… worked.

The cake was soon ready and the girls tasted it. It turned out to be delicious and Jasmine was completely satisfied. She now knew that it was safe to feed this to Eric on his birthday, and this excited her. A homemade present was always the best, right?

They proceeded with their girl's night, giving each other manicures while gossiping about that pregnant girl. They all went with black. Chloe found out that the nail polish disappears when her claws come out, but then it comes back once she gets rid of them. This, for some odd reason, excited her.

At around two in the morning, the girls finally went to bed.

Chloe woke up to someone bouncing on her bed. Having known her friend for quite some time, she figured out that Amy was trying to get her to wake. And, when Amy sets her mind to something, she gets it done, so there was no point in trying to fight back. She'd end up falling off of the bed eventually.

"I'm up, I'm up," Chloe groaned.

"Good. Because all three of our boys are downstairs. Jasmine is already down there and, apparently, we're going to the beach today. It's supposed to be 85 degrees and the beach about two hours south from here is still warm from the summer, so we're going swimming today!" Amy began to jump even harder and higher on Chloe's bed.

"Okay! Okay, Amy, calm down! I'm awake. Give me a minute to get ready and then I'll be downstairs. Do you think that you can take care of breakfast quickly?"

"Sure, no problem, Jas and I are on it."

And, with that, Amy skipped downstairs, leaving Chloe to get ready.

She decided against washing her hair since she was going to get an endless amount of salt in it anyways. Once she had washed up, she went to her closet and tried to find something nice to wear.

She had never had such a hard time getting ready. She knew that she was getting ready for Alek, especially because they were going to the beach, of all places, where Chloe would be walking around in a bikini and Alek would be walking around without a shirt and it would be considered okay. But, if it were up to Chloe, he would be walking without a shirt at all times. He wouldn't even own one. Or know what a shirt was.

Not wanting to take up too much time, Chloe finally decided on a black and white-striped bikini. She put on a pair of white shorts and a baggy blue shirt with sleeves that ended in the middle of her forearm. The bikini wrapped around her neck and she let her shirt hang off of one shoulder. If she didn't let it do that, then it would have fallen off on its own. Might as well embrace the inevitable.

Once she came downstairs, she told everyone good morning. They had all had breakfast, and there was one waffle left over that Chloe grabbed while everyone else was munching on an apple or a slice of an orange.

She could feel Alek's eyes on her the moment that she came downstairs. She couldn't help but wonder if her shoulder was really that attractive, or if Alek was just excited at the prospect of what he was going to see at the beach, Chloe having given him a sneak peek with her shirt. Chloe just became a little bit more excited, just because she could tease him a little bit.

Chloe walked up to Alek and, before he even could react, placed a small peck on his lips. She whispered to him a good morning and then decided that it was time to head out.

The cars were already packed. One car had enough space for two people in the front seat, the back having been crammed with towels, surf boards, chairs, umbrellas and food. The other car was for the other four people.

Jasmine and Eric climbed into the car with all of their belongings, with Eric driving, while the rest climbed into the other SUV. Alek took his place in the driver's seat with Chloe next to him while Amy and Paul took their places in the back.

Chloe notices that Paul and Alek were talking very casually, as if they were really good friends. Maybe their boy's night did them good. Paul seemed to have let go of his obsession just a tad and seemed to have gotten over his desire to have a bromance with Alek. Alek, on the other hand, seemed to have completely warmed up to Paul, having become closer to him that to his jocko friends. Chloe smiled to herself, and to Amy, as well, knowing that their plan was a success.

The drive proceeded with casual and light conversation, witty banter and jokes being thrown here and there. Chloe couldn't remember the last time she felt so… normal and relaxed. Probably before this whole Mai thing happened.

At some point in the first ten minutes of the ride, Alek's hand managed to take Chloe's and intertwine their fingers. They rested there in the middle of the car for the entire ride. Alek would occasionally squeeze Chloe's hand, reminding her that he was still there. To Chloe, it sometimes meant the world, but she couldn't put her finger on why.

Soon enough, they arrived at the beach. The girls had taken the towels and Paul helped with the chairs in order to go set up on a spot on the sand, leaving Alek alone with Eric.

"I don't dislike you, you know. You seem like a good guy, so please, consider what I'm about to say simply… a warning, instead of a menacing threat." Alek tried to ease his way into this talk while Eric helped him take out the surf boards and umbrellas. As the closest thing that Jasmine has to a father figure, he felt obliged to say the following.

"Uh, sure, what's up?" Eric asked uneasily. He figured that this would come, and at least Alek was trying to be nice about it.

"I mean, I'm sure you've figured this out already, but, if you hurt Jasmine, I will hurt you." Alek tried to smile, but he still left that undertone of his being completely serious.

"I know, don't worry. And, I can assure you that I have no intentions of hurting Jasmine. I really like her, and I even have for a while."

"Good, then I don't need to worry too much." Alek tried to lighten up the atmosphere. He did actually like this Eric guy, and he did have confidence that he would treat Jasmine properly.

As Alek and Eric made the final run from the car to the group's spot on the beach, Alek saw Chloe start to take off her clothes, stripping down to her bikini. He admired her ass as she bent down to untie her shoes and then again to shimmy out of her shorts. He admired her stomach as she stretched upwards while taking off her shirt. He could feel his primal instincts start to take over slowly.

Damn, he was a lucky man.

Their stuff was quite close to the water. Chloe was standing so closely that the waves would occasionally hit her toes if it was a strong one. Alek dropped the stuff in his arms towards the back of their area and quickly took off his shoes and his shirt. Then, he ran straight forwards, picking Chloe up and throwing her over his shoulder in the process.

"Alek! Put me down! No!" Chloe giggled furiously. Alek managed to run quite far into the water before jumping underneath, taking Chloe along with him.

It surprised Chloe how warm the water was. But she was slightly more distracted about the fact that Alek was without a shirt. Again. Yep, she could definitely get used to this.

Once she broke the surface upwards she was met by a smirk. Chloe tried to stay angry at Alek, but he was just so attractive with his hair all wet and beads of water running down his bare chest… It just wasn't fair.

"You look lovely in your swimsuit, dear." Alek spoke huskily as he slowly approached Chloe, placing his hands on her hips, naturally and pulling her into him. Instead of wrapped her arms around his neck like she usually did, Chloe placed her hands on Alek's pectoral muscles. She could feel them flex under her touch. As if Alek needed to impress her.

"You don't look so bad yourself" Chloe reciprocated the tone.

Alek placed his hands a little bit lower, right under Chloe's butt on her thighs and lifted her so that she would wrap her legs around his waist underwater. To help herself balance, Chloe let her hands leave Alek's chest and wander up to finally snake around his neck. The water was calm at the moment, so there weren't any big waves disrupting their moment.

"Come on into the water, you four! The water is so warm!" Chloe turned away from Alek for a moment to urge her friends to swim with her and Alek.

The day passed by in a lovely manner. They had played beach volleyball, Frisbee and football. Chloe found herself under Alek a lot as he always made it his mission to tackle her whenever he had the chance.

It wasn't just a day for Chloe and Alek, but a day with friends and romance intertwined. It was a perfect day for all of them.

Once the waves started to act up and become wilder, Eric started to attempt to teach Jasmine how to surf. She wasn't too bad, but after a certain point in time, she joined Chloe and Amy on the beach to tan and to just watch how their boys showed off their surfing skills and manhood.

Chloe loved how they were all so comfortable with each other and how they were all paired up and how there was never anyone left out. It was just perfect, there being no other word to describe it. Chloe hoped that things would never change.

Towards the end of the day, when the sun was slowly beginning to set and the waves had become calm once again, Chloe was once again in Alek's arms, her legs wrapped around his waist underwater. They were deeper than they were before, farther away from the beach, giving them more privacy. They liked it this way. As much as Chloe enjoyed being with her friends and with such a group of interesting and fun people, she would always love to go back to being with just Alek for a moment.

"You know, last night was the longest that you and I have ever been apart," Alek mentioned.

"Aw, did you suffer from Chloe King withdrawal?" Chloe teased.

"A little bit, I'll admit it. But, somehow, Paul managed to take my mind off of that. When you get past the whole Mai obsession aspect, he's actually a pretty awesome guy."

"You have no idea how much it means to me that my boyfriend and my best friend are getting along so well." Chloe looked at Alek admiringly, brushing away a stray strand of hair back. She left her hand in his hair and instead mixed her fingers with it.

Alek looked at Chloe and, unless if his eyes were playing cruel tricks on him, he saw love in her eyes. Alek knew that he and Chloe were trying to take things slow, but that was physically, and he was okay with that. But, emotionally, Alek was almost ready to burst and yell to Chloe from Mt. Everest that he loved her.

Even though he knew that he would never let anything happen to his and Chloe's relationship, he still wanted to say something while he still had the chance.

"Chloe, I have to tell you something…" Alek trailed off. Chloe could sense something was slightly off. Their mood had changed very rapidly, and it was beginning to worry her a little bit.

"Anything, Alek." She whispered to Alek, as if trying to assure him that she would listen to anything he has to say. And she most definitely would.

"I…" Alek didn't want to come out and say it bluntly, but he was having a hard time trying to figure his way around it.

"You… what?" Chloe was trying to edge him forward without pushing him too much.

"I realize that you might not feel this way about me yet, and I completely respect that and I'm not trying to push you into anything, but I just wanted to let you know that I… Well, I love you." Alek braced himself for what was to come.

He shouldn't have said that, he shouldn't have said that. Why did he say that? Chloe wasn't ready to hear that. Why did he open his mouth? That was so selfish of him to say that. Why, oh, why did he say that?

Alek didn't expect to feel Chloe's grip tighten on his hair and pull his head towards him. He expected her to unwrap her legs from his waist and let him down easy, and to have an awkward few hours until he told Chloe to forget about it. He didn't expect to feel Chloe's lips press to his, but, hey, who was he to complain?

Chloe reluctantly let go of his lips after a moment. As much as she wanted to kiss him forever, she needed to repeat the words back to him before he went into panic mode. She was just so elated! And he said it first! The guy never says it first! It just made Chloe feel so special. She could swear that this was all a dream, but, thankfully, she wasn't waking up. And she was so happy that she wouldn't.

"Alek," he was starting to expect her to let him down easy, "I love you, too."

Alek finally looked up to greet her with a smile. His lips immediately pressed to hers as he wrapped his arms tighter around her body, trying to pour every ounce of emotion he had into the kiss. The grip of Chloe's legs around his waist were readjusted and made tighter. Their bodies were truly practically one at the moment.

They eventually let go of each other and decided to head back to the shore. The sun was practically completely set and they still had to pack up and drive for two hours. Not to mention the fact that they had school tomorrow.

Alek and Chloe took the car with all of the belongings once things were packed up. Their hands had met in the middle of the car once again. Both were quite tired from the day's activities, so the drove in a comfortable silence. Alek had noticed that, soon enough, Chloe's grip in his hand had slackened. He turned to find her curled up in this seat, using a relatively dry towel as a blanket, dosing off. Alek just smiled to himself and looked back to the road.

He was definitely the luckiest man alive. He had the chance to know and to love the most amazing girl that had ever walked the planet. The best part was that she loved him back.

Alek had called up Jasmine and whispered into the phone, telling her to drop Amy and Paul off at their homes and that they would deal with their belongings after school the next day. Jasmine understood that Alek was going to be sleeping over at Chloe's house once again, so she didn't even bother asking.

Finally, Alek parked the car right outside of Chloe's house. He got out of the car and gently unbuckled Chloe and picked her up in his arms. Unlike on the first night that they got together, she didn't leave her dream state. In fact, she seemed to be in one of the deepest sleeps he had witnessed her have. He was getting quite tired as well, so he didn't blame her.

He arrived in her room with Chloe in his arms and lay her down on her bed. He stripped her of her clothes but left her in her bikini. It was dry and she would be taking a shower the next morning anyways, and Alek didn't want to cross into that territory. He loved her, and he definitely didn't want to ruin anything he had with her by changing her. It wasn't he was lusting her at the moment, in fact, he felt like such a girl, being all enveloped in his emotions, but he didn't want Chloe to think differently.

Before he slipped under the covers with Chloe, he quickly took off his shirt and quietly rinsed off the salt water from his body and his hair in the shower so that Chloe would have it all to herself in the morning. Then he pulled back the covers, kissed his love on the cheek as a reflex, collected her in his arms and fell asleep.

**YES. DONE. LONGEST CHAPTER YET. ALMOST 5,000 WORDS! WOOT!**

**I hope you liked it, and I, once again, am so sorry for not updating sooner. On the bright side, my writer's block is OVER. I got more and more into this the more I wrote. I should have started pushing myself earlier **

**I know I said that this chapter was going to be super fluffy, and I'm sorry if it didn't turn out that way but I did try!**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and please review! Thank you!**


	9. Stores and Moms

**Hello, there, reader!**

**Thank you all for the amazing reviews! Over 200! Woot!**

**Things are going to start to get pretty serious here, just because I kind of felt like it. I don't know why, but I had this idea and I just kind of decided to act upon it…**

**But I'll try to keep it pretty fluffy **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this, and I present to you chapter 9.**

Chloe stared at the piece of paper in her hands. She couldn't believe her eyes. Its contents, who it's from, anything concerning the letter.

_Brian Rezza_ the envelope read. Why in the world would he be trying to contact Chloe? She had made it very clear that she didn't want a thing to do with him. He could at least give her a month to cool down. But a week? Really? Just a week? Was he that desperate?

But the contents of the letter… that's what confused her the most.

_Chloe,_

_I know I was a jerk. I shouldn't have beaten up Alek. I was angry and I wasn't thinking straight and he just walked right by the alley and I jumped him. It's as if some sort of cat-like reflex had taken over._

Brian probably didn't realize his mistake of comparing his instincts to the animal. Either that or he was trying to get Chloe to understand something about Alek that he thought she didn't know. Chloe spotted it instantly, however.

_I really want to make it up to. I do love you, yes, and I probably will for a while, but our friendship is more valuable. If you could give me a second chance, I would be eternally grateful. Please, let me make things up to you. Meet me at the coffee shop near the water at eight on Saturday._

_Love, Brian_

At first, when Chloe saw the letter, she thought that this would be a trap. But the coffee shop was a pretty popular place, and Brian wasn't stupid enough to do anything to her in public.

Chloe was still confused as she read over the letter again.

I mean, they had tried to be friends. That didn't work. At all. In fact, he had pushed her into unwanted and uncomfortable territory even after she told him that she didn't want to go there. Is she really going to try this again?

On the other hand, she _did_ kind of owe Brian something. Maybe a simple explanation in person would be enough. Yeah, that's it. She'd just meet up with him to gently let him down and tell him to piss off.

Although, Alek wouldn't be okay with Chloe going to see him, even if all she wanted to do was get him to leave her alone. Chloe was pretty sure that he would just rather do it himself.

Chloe decided to put it away for now. She still had time until Saturday, so she would think about it. But, for now, she had to run to work. Thank goodness for early dismissals. Chloe might actually be on time today.

The day at work was slow. Even the coffee shop attached to the store was empty. Probably because there wasn't any homework assigned tonight, so no one needed a dose of caffeine to get them through the night of writing essays until two in the morning. Why in the world this was going on was beyond Chloe, but, hey, who was she to complain?

Chloe leaned onto the counter and sighed out of boredom. Lana had left and told her to close up on time, but that all she had to do now was watch over the place. Chloe was looking at the boxes of new items that had just come in that rested on the other side of the store. She had to do inventory and then hang everything up. She was doomed.

That is, until her savior walked into the store.

Alek strutted in from the coffee shop. He had no homework to be done so he was just as bored as Chloe was. And when she saw her facial expression of dread regarding her tasks, he thought he might as well save her.

"Hello, there, love," Alek snuck up behind Chloe and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head around her to kiss her on the cheek.

"Oh! Alek, don't sneak up on me like that!" Chloe giggled. She should be mad at him, but she couldn't help but just melt into his warm and strong body behind her. She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder and rolling her head so that her nose skimmed Alek's neck.

_He called me "love"!_ Chloe mentally freaked out about how much she loved hearing that. Honestly, she would give anything in the world to hear him say that to her for forever.

"I don't want to do this work…"

"But don't you get paid for it? You have to earn the money somehow…" Alek teased. He laughed and Chloe could feel the vibrations tickle her nose.

"Yeah, but… I don't wanna…" Chloe complained like a little child.

"How about if I help?" Alek offered.

Chloe pulled back her head and leaned away from Alek to look at him in the eyes.

"Seriously? You want to help me take inventory in a clothing store? Do you even know the difference between a cardigan and a blouse?" Chloe looked at him amused.

"I live with two women in the apartment. I'm not necessarily proud of the fact, but of course I know the difference!"

Chloe practically jumped on Alek in excitement and gratitude. She pushed her lips onto hers as Alek caught Chloe from her little hop onto him. His strong arms lifted her onto the counter as she wrapped hers around his neck to maintain balance. Alek could feel Chloe smiling against his lips, which made him smile. Seeing her happy was what made him happy. As cheesy as that sounds, it was true. That's how you feel about someone you love.

"You know, if Lana walks in right, I'm fired… again." Chloe reluctantly pulled away from the kiss, knowing that they should really get started.

"Ah, but she's not coming back today, is she?" Alek leaned in to try and recapture Chloe's lips. He managed to do so for a second, but Chloe pulled away quickly.

"Come on, Alek," she hopped off of the counter. "We _have_ to finish by the end of the day, or else Lana will actually fire me. And I don't think that she has another abusive boyfriend for me to save her from."

"Fine. I mean, I guess, the sooner we start, the sooner we finish, right?"

Chloe simply nodded in response as she pulled out the inventory notebook.

"Can't I at least get a kiss to motivate me?" Alek gave her a puppy dog face.

Chloe raised one eyebrow before grabbing Alek by the collar of his button down shirt and pulling his head down to have his lips crash onto hers. Alek put his hands on the counter behind Chloe to trap her next to him.

Just as quickly as it started, the kiss ended once Chloe pulled away and snuck under Alek's arm before he could even react and trap her for longer.

"Come on, loverboy. Help me with those boxes over there."

They worked for a solid hour, almost wordlessly. Alek would bring the box over to Chloe and help her take out all of its contents. Chloe would then list what was in the box into the notebook and write down how many there were. She would then fold them or put them on a hanger before sending Alek to put them away in the right place.

Chloe would occasionally let her mind wander off somewhere. Specifically towards Alek and how his slightly baggy sleeves did absolutely nothing to hide his arms and how they flexed. Eventually, Alek took off his shirt, leaving him in just a black wife beater, distracting Chloe even more. He either got too hot, since he was doing most of the physical work around here, or just a little bit too cocky.

Black was such a good color against his skin…

They soon finished what they had to do with half an hour to spare before Chloe could close up. They waited fifteen minutes before deciding that no one was going to come in in the last minutes of the shift, so they began to lock up. Chloe turned the key at exactly six.

They lovebirds decided to head back to Chloe's house and watch a movie. An action movie, this time, Chloe demanded. Alek pretended that he would be okay with watch a chick flick if Chloe wanted to, but she knew that he wanted to see an action film and was really just being a gentleman.

Chloe honestly never thought that she would see this side of Alek. She had gotten used to the "jocko" Alek with his constant sarcastic smirks and teasing comments. But this side of him that was so caring and loving had come as a complete surprise to Chloe. She had admitted to herself that she did love Alek before she even knew and before they had gotten together, but seeing this side of him made her fall in love with him even more.

Alek was sitting on the couch, slightly leaning on the side to make it easier for his girl, with his arm draped over Chloe, who had her feet up and the couch and was leaning on Alek. About halfway through the film, Chloe stopped leaning on Alek and rested her head in Alek's lap, lying down completely. Alek's arm itself fell onto Chloe's waist.

In the middle of one of the high-action scenes, Chloe heard the door open, causing her to squeal. Alek didn't hear a thing and thought that Chloe was just startled by an explosion in the movie. He chuckled, thinking about how adorable his girlfriend was. Chloe blushed and attempted to hide her face from Alek, even though she was already facing away from him.

Their cute little moment was, unfortunately, interrupted quite terribly.

"Um, would someone like to explain to me what is going on here?"

Chloe sat up rapidly and turned around to find her mother standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips and a pretty pissed off facial expression.

"Mom! You're home! How was Vegas?" Chloe tried to get away from the topic of what her mother just found.

"It was lovely, I was going to tell you all about it. But then I walk into the house to find a guy on our couch. And, I know I said that there were no boys in your _bedroom_, it was bed-boy, off all people! Really, Chloe?"

Now, it was Alek's turn to speak. Right as Chloe was about to open her mouth and speak, Alek intruded with his own thoughts.

"Um, excuse me, Mrs. King?" Meredith turned her head towards Alek with a raised eyebrow. "With all due respect, I would like to intervene for a moment and apologize for our previous encounter. I'm not sure if this is the right time to do it, but I will anyways. I was in Chloe's room, yes, but I apologize for acting rudely towards you and pretending like it wasn't a big deal that teenage boy was in a teenage girl's bedroom. I'm not saying that we were doing anything, Chloe would never, but I understand your concern and I apologize."

There was a moment of silence between the three of them before Meredith spoke up, apparently with a change of heart.

"Not many attractive teenage boys are willing to apologize in such a manner right off of the bat. Therefore, I am willing to look past this and maybe even the bedroom encounter. How about you come over for dinner tomorrow and we can have a clean slate?" Both Chloe and Alek were in complete shock that those words had actually just left her mother's mouth.

"That would be wonderful, Mrs. King. Thank you," Alek smiled at her. Surprisingly, the smile was returned.

"Great, I will be seeing you tomorrow around 7, then. But, if you'll excuse me, I would like to speak to my daughter. Alone."

"Of course, Mrs. King."

"Chloe, would you walk your boyfriend out? I'll just throw my things in my room."

"Would you like me to help you with those, Mrs. King?"

"No need, Alek. Thank you, though." Both Chloe and Alek could tell that she was slowly warming up to him.

Chloe walked Alek to her doorway and he finally turned around to her when they were at the doorway.

"So, is your mother going to give you "the talk"?" Alek wiggled his eyebrows to stress his mockery.

"Ugh, the worst part of your statement is the fact that you might actually be right." Chloe laughed and groaned simultaneously.

Alek then came closer to Chloe, as he was about to kiss her. His lips were merely two or three inches away from hers, his hands having placed themselves on her hips. Her hands made their way to his shoulders.

"I'll be on your rooftop to tease you about this tonight." Alek whispered.

"I'll let you know when it's safe to come inside." Chloe whispered back.

"I love you." Alek was the first to whisper it, again.

"I love you, too." It was the first time that they had said I love you after the beach. Chloe thought that it sounded even more beautiful the second time.

Alek leaned down to press his lips gently to Chloe's. He released her reluctantly but within a few seconds to let her go back to her mother. He really hoped that things would be alright.

Chloe turned and shot Alek one final smile before closing the door and going to face her mother in the kitchen.

"So, that was…"

"Alek. His name is Alek, mom."

"I know, I know. So, what were you doing on the couch there?" Her mother asked inquisitively.

"We were watching a movie… What did you think that we were doing?"

"Well, your head was on his lap, so I kind of thought that you might be…" Meredith tried her best to avoid the actual words.

"Mom! I was not! I mean… I can't believe I'm about to say this, but… If I was doing that, I'd be on my knees in front of him, not lying down on the couch!" Oh, she knew that Alek could hear here. She was dreading what she would hear, although it might be an… interesting form of beginning a make out session… Maybe.

"Alright, alright! I was just asking! But, in all seriousness, he does seem like a lovely boy. It's a shame we met the first time the way we did, but at least he apologized. But, the most important thing is, does he make you happy?"

"He does, mom. He really does." Chloe leaned on the countertop next her mother. "Wait a minute, how in the world did you know that he was my boyfriend? I never told you that!"

"Chloe, sweetie, you do me injustice. I'm your mother. I know these things on my own."

"Alright, alright. So, how was Vegas? Do any gambling?" And thus, Chloe and Meredith caught up and gossiped for about an hour before Meredith decided that she was tired from her journey and headed upstairs to sleep. They exchanged "good nights" as Chloe made her way to her own bedroom.

She turned around and was surprised to find her bed empty of an Alek.

She spoke too soon, however, when she felt a pair of warm and protective arms engulf her and spin her around. Her hands reflexively placed themselves on Alek's pecs.

"So, you'd have to be on your knees, huh?" Alek teased. His lips were so close to Chloe's that she could feel his hot breath on her lips.

"Alek."

"Yes?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

Alek didn't even bother responding as he smirked and pushed his lips onto Chloe's.

**BEFORE you decide to review and tell me something along the lines of "how could you end it here?" (which I'm sure many of you will) I must say that I'm not ending it here. I'm just going to start of the new chapter exactly where this one ends ;)**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please review! **


	10. Dinner

**Chapter 10 has arrived! We are now in the double digits **

**Anyways, just as a heads up, this chapter is slightly borderline between T and M rated. So, if you might be uncomfortable with that, you have been warned. I didn't actually cross over to the M-rated side, because I can't really write that and I feel uncomfortable actually writing a scene like that… So, sorry for those who wanted me to! **

**Anyways, without further ado, I present chapter 10!**

Amongst various emotions that were mixed into the kiss—lust, love, so on and so forth—the strongest emotion in the mix was relief. And not just the "in the moment" type of relief, but the general kind. Relief that Chloe's mother didn't disapprove of their relationship, for now, at least. Relief that Amy and Paul and Jasmine were rooting for them. Relief that they didn't have to worry about Brian coming in between them, although that was mostly from Alek's perspective. And, most importantly, relief that they were together and that they were happy together. Things were just perfect.

Alek gently pushed Chloe backwards until the back of her legs hit her desk. Alek then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up so that Chloe was sitting on the desk. Thank goodness she had decided that she wanted to clean her desk in the morning. Honestly, it was the most random urge while Alek was getting ready in the morning.

Alek kept one arm around Chloe and let his other arm rest on the desk as he leaned himself and Chloe lower. Chloe's arm, which had placed themselves around Alek's neck, pulled Alek closer, making their bodies completely pressed against one another. Alek pressed his hand against the small of her back, making Chloe's stomach push into Alek's chest.

God, he felt so good. He was so warm. And his kisses were so indescribably amazing. He was such a fantastic kisser. He knew exactly what to do to make Chloe go weak at her knees. Thank goodness she was sitting on a desk, or else she would have been a puddle on the ground by now.

Alek pulled away from Chloe, eliciting a whimper of disappointment which quickly turned into a moan of pleasure as Alek's teeth gently grazed down Chloe's neck and his lips began to trace her jaw. He continued these ministrations for a sold three minutes. He was teasing her relentlessly. He would gently bite where her neck met her shoulder and then begin kissing it to erase the feeling of the bite. His lips would wander around Chloe's jaw line. And, just when it seemed like he was about to kiss her, his head would dip back downwards towards her collarbone.

While Chloe was truly loving these ministrations, she was growing quite impatient with her boyfriend. Whenever she'd through her head in pleasure and then tilt her head back up, she'd be met with Alek's stare of lust and his hair that was tousled in thousands of directions from her fingers running through the locks, making him truly look like a sex god. She would expect him to smash his lips against hers, but, no, of course he wouldn't dare do such a thing. Instead, he would just continue to make her life miserable in the most pleasurable way.

But Chloe was having enough of this. She needed his lips on hers and she needed them now.

The next time that Alek pulled up his head up to look at Chloe, he was caught by surprise. The smirk that usually played around on his lips had managed to sneak away and rest on hers. Suddenly, he felt Chloe's fingers thread with the hairs at the nape of his neck and pull his head towards hers.

His lips came crashing down on hers with a sudden force that Chloe herself didn't expect. Alek must have added enthusiasm as she forced his body closer to hers, for the force with which Alek attacked Chloe's lips sent her flying backwards, hitting the wall. Chloe gave out a moan and the vibrations the left her mouth and entered Alek's made him moan in response.

Alek broke away for air. He didn't want to, but, in order for him and Chloe to continue the good time that they were having, they both needed to catch their breath.

Alek rested his forehead against Chloe's as they both panted, trying to get as much oxygen as they could so that they could last longer in round two of their evening.

"Bloody hell, Chloe." Alek's words came out as a loud whisper as he continued to pant.

"I guess I have ended up showing you some of my moves, after all," Chloe chuckled, following up on Alek's own pick-up line.

"Seriously, King? Really?"

"Yeah, Petrov. Really."

Chloe's voice dipped quite low with the last word. She then saw even more lust fill Alek's eyes as her husky tone brought out the primal animal in him once again.

Alek's lips collided with Chloe's once again as he pushed her further into the wall. Both Chloe and Alek could feel themselves getting hotter and more restless. Finally, when Chloe had lost patience, she grabbed the bottom of Alek's shirt and tugged upwards.

Within seconds, Alek understood Chloe's goal. He pulled back just a tad so that his hands could replace Chloe's on his shirt. He practically ripped off his shirt, leaving him bare-chested in front of Chloe.

One half of his mind was contemplating just letting Chloe stare at him for a minute or two, teasing her once again. But the other half, the louder half, was screaming for Alek to push his ego aside and combine his lips with hers once again.

And that's exactly what he did.

His tongue traced the bottom of Chloe's lips, not just begging for entrance, but practically demanding it. Chloe easily complied. She wasn't in the mood to be stubborn and tease Alek like he had teased her. Their tongues engaged in yet another battle for dominance. They both wanted to win, but, this time, Chloe was not backing down from the fight. Her tongue pushed up on his just like her body was doing at the moment. She was trying to distract Alek by running her fingers up and down Alek's perfectly sculpted abs.

It almost worked.

Alek gave into her for a second, on one hand, being genuinely pleasured by Chloe, but, on the other hand, allowing her the satisfaction of thinking that she had won the battle. But the war was not over.

Alek allowed himself to revel in Chloe's touch. He could feel his muscles clenching and flexing themselves under her fingers, as if they had minds of their own and were begging for more of Chloe's affections.

But his moments of relaxation were over. Now, it was his turn to, once again, take over.

Alek hooked his arms under Chloe's knees and pulled her towards him, groin to groin. Chloe could feel something pressing against her thigh and it took a moment to realize that Alek was merely excited. She was caught off guard, however, eliciting a gasp. This made her give up her dominance over Alek's tongue, a moment of which Alek took full advantage.

Chloe realized that she somehow needed to regain her dominance in this position. How, she only had one idea. It would most likely work, although it might also give an unnecessary boost to Alek's ego. But, hey, it's all worth a try, right?

Alek was enjoying his moment of having the upper hand in this make out session. It made him feel manly. To Chloe's advantage, it made him feel responsible to please Chloe in all possible ways.

Alek's arm that had stayed around Chloe's waist for the entire evening slowly began to move out of position. His hand slid under Chloe's shirt to skim the bare skin on the small of her back. He could feel the shiver that ran up her spine the moment his hand begin to tickle her skin. He smirked against her lips.

His smirk didn't stay long, however. In fact, it flew off of his face as if it had never existed there in the first place. What, may you ask, caused this rare occurrence to take place?

Chloe's hand that had been running up and down Alek's chest suddenly dipped lower. Her finger skimmed the top of Alek's jeans that hung relatively low on his hips, tracing the outline of the top. Then her hand dipped even lower until Alek felt a squeeze on his manhood that made his smirk flee.

He growled into Chloe's mouth, but still unable to regain his composure. Dominance had, once again, been surrendered to Chloe. She squeezed him once again, this time, holding on a little bit longer, while smirking against Alek's lips.

Alek tried hard to fight back, but he honestly couldn't find the strength at the moment. He was too weakened by Chloe's touch and how she somehow managed to add the _perfect_ amount of pressure, resulting in an overwhelming amount of pleasure being shot through his entire brain, registering his brain useless.

Chloe squeezed once more, a little bit harder this time, forcing Alek's hips to subconsciously jerk forward into her hand, but then her ministrations were over. She pulled her hand away and slid it back up his chest to rest on his shoulder. Alek then pulled away, practically growling at the loss of touch.

"Now, Alek, see how easily I can control you?" Chloe smirked.

This just turned Alek on even more. Since when did the somewhat innocent and naïve Uniter become so fucking sexy?

To Chloe, Alek looked like an obedient puppy. He looked as if he was about to beg for more of her touch, more of her attention. To Chloe, it looked like Alek was slowly beginning to admit defeat. But Chloe didn't see the wheels turning in Alek's head.

After Alek had taken a moment to regain his composure, he began creating a plan in his mind. It wasn't a very elaborate one, but step one was to convince Chloe that she was winning. Which, as you can tell, had already been completed. Step two was to regain control.

Instead of begging like a puppy, Alek began to stare at Chloe with such an intense gaze that even she was beginning to be a little bit scared. Then, Alek grabbed the back of Chloe's neck and pulled her closer to him, smashing his lips onto hers. This instantaneously elicited a moan from Chloe, but it was more of a gasp of surprise mixed in with a whimper of pleasure than an actual moan.

Chloe felt his need for dominance through his kiss. She felt his need to pleasure her, the need to know that he was the one that would make her moan. She figured that she had had enough of the upper hand for one night: she caved in.

Alek could sense Chloe's defenses wearing off. He could feel her will to control him slipping away. He would have smirked, but he was too engrossed in the kiss to do so.

Alek kept scrambling to get Chloe to be closer to him. He was convinced that, even though their bodies were completely flushed against each other's, they could somehow get even closer. As he moved his arms around Chloe to pull her closer, his fingers would hook onto Chloe's shirt and hike it up. It wasn't intentional, it just happened.

Soon, Chloe's shirt was half off of her shoulder and her entire stomach was exposed. Alek and Chloe were now skin to skin. Alek had never felt such a beautiful sensation in his life. Her somewhat cool skin against his burning skin drove him insane. He never ever wanted this moment to end.

Unfortunately, it had to. Somewhere, in the back of Alek's mind, he thought that he had heard something. He pulled away from Chloe to pay more attention, leaving her in a confused and breathless daze.

Thank goodness he did pull away, for the sound in the back of his mind turned out to be the footsteps of a certain Meredith King, who would kill both him and her daughter if she caught them in the positions that they were in. They still had time, since the footsteps were approaching them slowly and were relatively far away from Chloe's room.

"Your mom is about to come in." Alek whispered loudly as he caught his breath.

"Shit…" Chloe's eyes barely widened, but at the moment, her brain had no possibility of ordering her limbs to move.

"Go to your bathroom and start brushing your teeth." Alek ordered gently.

"Wait, why?" Now Chloe was becoming _really_ confused, which was the last thing she needed to be at the moment.

"Because I have made your lips become quite swollen, and you need to hide that," Alek said proudly, running his thumb on Chloe's lower lip. Never had he ever seen a more beautiful sight than the blushing, swollen lipped girl in front of him.

Chloe merely nodded in response as she finally willed her legs to move her to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Alek grabbed his shirt and hid in the small space between the wall and the bed, satisfied with his plan only when he heard Chloe begin to brush her teeth.

Then, finally, there was the highly anticipated knock on the door.

"Chloe?" Meredith asked. She then turned the doorknob and entered, thinking that she had given Chloe a long enough warning before coming in. Just as she stepped into the room, Chloe popped out of her bathroom with a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.

"Mhm?" Chloe hummed, not being able to actually speak due to the toothbrush in her mouth.

"Can I borrow your toothpaste? I seem to have forgotten mine back at the hotel…" Meredith looked hopefully at her daughter.

Chloe then ran quickly into her bathroom, grabbed the toothpaste and headed back to her mother, thanking Bastet that she wasn't questioning the banging noises coming from her room. She had no idea how to explain that one.

"Thank you very much, I'll give it back in the morning. I love you, and before you try speaking with froth all over your lips, I know, 'implied'. Good night!" Chloe merely smiled at her mother in response as Meredith closed the door behind her.

"Well, thank goodness we dodged that bullet!" Alek chuckled as Chloe headed back into the bathroom to rinse out the toothpaste. "Thank goodness we're Mai, or else we wouldn't have been able to hear her coming." Alek took a seat on Chloe's bed, leaning back and resting on his elbows, his shirt thrown over his shoulder.

"Well, if we weren't Mai, we probably still wouldn't even be speaking to each other at school," Chloe pointed out with a smile on her face, being the smart one that she is. She then sat on her bed near Alek's head, crossing her legs and putting her hands in her lap.

"I never said that that was the _only_ reason that I was grateful that we are Mai." Alek shot Chloe his infamous smirk.

Chloe then leaned down and placed a kiss on Alek's lips. It was much more gentle than the kisses that they shared a few minutes ago, since their mood was kind of ruined by the intrusion, but the kiss was a solid length, nonetheless. It was just much more tender, filled with more love than lust, with soft passion, as opposed to the fiery kind.

Chloe soon pulled away and gave Alek a look that read 'it's time to go to bed'. It was Thursday tomorrow and not, only did they have school, and not only did Chloe have work, but there was also dinner. THE dinner, where Alek would come over and officially meet Chloe's mom, in less compromising situations.

The next day, Chloe couldn't stop tapping her foot or shaking her pencil in her hand at school. She was so nervous for Alek coming over for dinner. In the back of her mind, she knew that everything would be fine, but she just couldn't help but panic. Even Lana noticed how antsy Chloe was, so she let her leave work an entire hour early. Jasmine was on Uniter-duty, so that Alek could go and get ready, so at least Chloe had a friend to calm down her nerves. It kind of worked, enough to make sure her mom thought that she was relatively sane when she walked through the door.

"Hi, sweetheart, I thought you were working today." Her mom was in the kitchen, already preparing for the dinner with Alek, even though he wasn't due to arrive for another hour and a half.

"Oh, uh, I think Lana had some family stuff to take care of, so she wanted to close the shop a bit earlier today. So, I guess I'm home to help prepare for dinner… in an entire hour and half…" Chloe tried to squeeze out the reason why her mother was putting in so much effort for a boy who, up until recently, was dubbed as "the bed boy".

"I read this amazing recipe this morning in a magazine for a cake, so I thought that I might as well try it out tonight. It says the cake needs to bake for a while, so I put it in now, but I'll start the actual dinner in about half an hour or so. I think that that should be enough time." Meredith was walking around the kitchen, cleaning up whatever mess her baking made. Chloe lent a hand.

"What's for dinner?" Chloe asked.

"I was thinking of making spaghetti with that sauce that you like, the one with mushrooms and… what's that white stuff called again?"

"Alfredo sauce?"

"Yeah, Alfredo. That's it."

"Well, I'm sure Alek will love it."

Meredith paused her motion to turn around and look at her daughter.

"You really like him, don't you?" she smiled at Chloe.

"More than you can even imagine, mom."

Instead of responding, Meredith simply smiled and turned back around to wash the bowls covered in chocolate batter. She couldn't remember the last time that she had ever seen Chloe this happy. Not since her father left, and that was thirteen years ago, when Chloe was a baby and was always smiling, completely unaware of the flaws in the world. Maybe her first impression of Alek wasn't the best, but, if he made her daughter _this_ happy, then she could easily warm up to him.

Soon, the table was set and dinner was ready. Chloe had stood in front of her closet for at least a half hour, deciding on what to wear. She eventually decided on a pair of dark skinny jeans and a purple tank top tucked into the jeans, spilling over the brim just a little bit, adding a delicate amount of volume to the shirt. She decided to let her hair down and put on a pair of long earrings that almost matched the color of her hair, blending in with her curls.

She came downstairs just as the doorbell rang, signaling that Alek was here and that the most stressful night that Chloe could ever think of enduring had begun.

"I'll get it!" Chloe yelled as she dashed from the stairs to the doorway, almost slipping and falling due to the combination of socks and hardwood flooring.

Chloe regained her balance only once she grabbed the door handle. In an attempt to straighten her back, she accidentally opened the door, only to be met with an attractive smirk belonging to an even more attractive man leaning against the outside of the door frame.

Alek was wearing dark jeans, matching the color of Chloe's ideally, along with a light blue button up shirt, with the top button being undone so that it still had a casual look. It took Chloe a second to register that this was _her_ boyfriend standing in front of her.

"Hi," Chloe breathed out.

Alek chuckled at how simple Chloe's greeting was as he stepped towards her and tucked a finger under her chin.

"Hi," Alek responded, and then genuinely smiled before he tilted Chloe's head upwards to greet her with a soft kiss.

When they pulled apart, Chloe blushed and took Alek's hand, leading him into her house, towards the kitchen and dining area.

"Oh, hi, there, Alek." Meredith smiled towards the boy, and smiled even more when she saw how Chloe's and Alek's finger were intertwined. "You came just in time. The spaghetti just got finished."

Meredith then went to place another bowl on the table set for three next to salad bowl.

"It smells delicious, Ms. King." Alek gave Meredith the second genuine smile of the evening.

Chloe's worst fear for the evening was that they would sit and eat, and all that they would hear would be the hollow clanking of forks and knives against the plate. Instead, Chloe found herself being the third wheel as Alek and her mother seemed to have quickly formed a friendship and a knack for talking endlessly. Chloe couldn't remember the last time that she had heard her mother laugh so hard around someone else besides her. It felt good to know that her mom felt comfortable around her boyfriend.

Dinner soon came to an end and it was time for Alek to leave. Well, "leave" in the sense of walk out of the door and then enter again using Chloe's window, but still, according to Meredith, he had to leave.

"Dinner was wonderful, Ms. King, especially the chocolate cake. It was marvelous. Thank you so much for having me," Alek said, being the suave man that he is.

"It was my pleasure having you, Alek. You're welcome any time. Maybe next time, you can bring Jasmine and your aunt to join us!"

"That sounds lovely, thank you, again."

"Here, I'll walk you out." Chloe intervened, before this conversation would turn into one of those conversations where neither person would stop responding to the other's response, question or not. Then Alek would be standing in their hallway _forever_.

"I'm so glad that that went smoothly," Chloe smiled to Alek, who already had one foot out of the door.

"I can't believe you would ever doubt me! Mothers always love me! Especially for their daughters!" Alek feigned disbelief and hurt, causing Chloe to giggle like a little girl. "I'll be in your room in about an hour, I'm just going to head back to my apartment for a moment, check on Jasmine and stuff."

"Sure. I'll see you soon." Chloe stood on her tip toes so that she could reach Alek's lips. She placed one last soft kiss on his lips before Alek smiled, turned around, and ran off back to his apartment.

Chloe soon came back in and closed the door, leaning against it. She sighed with such relief. This night couldn't have gone any better. There had been no reason for her to worry.

**Yes! Chapter 10! Done!**

**So, I have yet to come around to respond to the chapter 9 reviews, and I am terribly sorry about that. I have just been extremely busy in the past few days, but I will get around the responding to those reviews soon. So, some of you might receive two messages from me thanking you for your kind words. Sorry!**

**Anyways, thank you for reading, and please review! You know how much they mean to me **


	11. Friday Nights

**And now for chapter 11**

**Thank you all so much for the reviews! I appreciate each and every one of them!**

**Unfortunately, this story is soon coming to a close. I'm predicting three more chapters after this. Maybe four. Five max. But I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate everyone who read the story, who reviewed the story, who helped me think of ideas. I am eternally grateful **

**Also, later in the chapter (you'll see when) there is a song accompanying a scene. It's "Feeling Good" by Michael Bubl****é.**

**Anyways, without further ado, here's chapter 11**

Alek looked down at his girlfriend with such pride. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. He had yet to figure out what he had done to deserve the opportunity to call this angel his.

The two lovebirds were walking down the hallway hand in hand. Recently, the school's social website had deemed these two the hottest commodity. They always looked perfect together. Sometimes, even when they didn't notice it, the two of them matched in clothing. No one pointed it out to them, but some people would mention it to their friends, just point and smile at the adorable couple. When Amy noticed this, and she _always_ noticed it, she would tug on Paul's sleeve and whisper "isn't that just too cute?".

Ever since Chloe had become Alek's girlfriend, her popularity had slowly started to rise. She wasn't becoming a mean girl, but, whenever they'd walk down the hall together, Alek would notice how at least five people, boys and girls, would smile at Chloe and say hello. But, what Alek admired the most about the entire scenario was that, while she could totally forget about Amy and Paul and continue to rise in the ranks, she decided to ignore all of these new acquaintances and remained best friends with only Amy and Paul. This meant that Alek was being dragged along for the ride. But he didn't mind one bit.

Most people had already grown accustomed to the couple. The girls that pined for Alek had eventually given up, realizing that they were just completely in love with his appearance and the idea of being popular. I mean, they weren't blind. They all saw how Alek looked at Chloe. If they were to break up tomorrow, Alek would sulk for months and not even think of taking a girl for a rebound or even to make Chloe jealous. It was a lost cause so the girls just let it go.

Well, most of the girls.

There was one girl. Her name was Chelsea. She was the head cheerleader. She was the classic head cheerleader that you would see in all of those movies, the ones where the girls like Chelsea were the means girls and ended up losing in the end. She wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. She had long straight blonde hair and always walked in the middle of the hallway with her posy behind her, expecting the student body to part for her like the red sea. Most of the time, they did. But not because they admired her or respected her. She was just _such_ a pain in the ass that they did everything they could to simply not deal with her.

Chelsea had proclaimed herself Alek's soul mate, simply based on stereotypes and clichés. She had figured that Alek's infatuation with this Chloe King girl was simply to get her in bed and then dump her. She gave them a week. Almost two weeks had gone by, and she was growing less and less patient each and every day. She was tired of hearing all of the rubbish about those two being the perfect couple. Today, she had had the final straw.

"Alek, baby!" She strutted up to Alek and Chloe, followed by her army of clones.

Alek and Chloe simply exchanged looks of both confusion and amusement. This ought to be good…

"Um… Can I help you?" Alek glanced around to make sure that he wasn't going completely insane and hallucinating, hoping that there was another Alek in the hallway

"Alek, baby. You know what I'm here for."

"I honestly having no clue…" Alek had decided that it wasn't he who was insane, but Chelsea. Although most people already knew that. "Feel free to enlighten me though, I'm insanely curious." His usage of sarcasm seemed to go over Chelsea's head.

"Alek, I know that you've been going through a phase but it's been two weeks. You can come back to me now. You know that we belong together." Chelsea tried to be seductive, but, honestly, this entire scenario looked so pathetic.

Chloe had been trying to hold in a giggle for a few minutes now, but that statement mixed with Alek's "What the hell?" expression pushed Chloe over the line. She gave a burst of laughter, but silenced herself immediately.

Chelsea heard Chloe laugh and snapped her head towards her. She walked up closer to her in an attempt to seem menacing. The attempt resulted in a fail, however, although Chelsea couldn't see that.

"And what do you think is so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." Chloe responded while trying so hard not to burst into a fit of giggles. She felt Alek squeeze her hand and stole a glance at him only find him on the edge of laughter just like her.

"Let me make this clear, King." She made a point of stressing Chloe's name, once again in a vain attempt to sound intimidating. "Alek Petrov is mine. You better back off."

"Aw, it's so adorable how delusional you are, Chels!" Chloe was pushing a button or two by calling her what her "friends" call her. This may have seemed like an extremely bitchy thing to say according to someone who hadn't gone to their school or didn't have an insight of the life of the surrounding students. However, to those who did attend this particular high school, the fact that Chloe had said that to Chelsea caused everyone to smile inwardly and think _finally_.

Chelsea's mouth drops open in shock. It takes her a few seconds to regain herself, partially because she was trying to think of some witty retort. When she failed to do that, she turned towards Alek and resorted to her back up plan.

"Alek, sweetheart, please tell her the truth. It'll hurt less now than it will later. You know that you belong with me!" Chelsea was practically whining.

"Actually, I don't. I completely and utterly belong to Chloe." Alek had let go of Chloe's hand and instead snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "I'd say I was sorry. But I'm not." And with that, the two of them continued down their path, leaving a scorned cheerleader who would probably never live this down behind.

Alek and Chloe had separated after he walked her to her class. This was one of the three subjects that they didn't have together. The moment that Alek entered his classroom, he was greeted by various raised eyebrows and smirks from his basketball friends. A few of them must have witnessed the run in with Chelsea this morning, and, if someone hadn't already known about it, he had most definitely already been filled in.

Alek's theory of being accused as being "whipped" was finally about to become a moment in history…

"Well, hello, there, Alek." Matt, one of the only sane jockos, said, wearing a grin that screamed "I know what you've been up to!". "How was your morning?"

"It was fine, thanks…" Alek trailed off, attempting to avoid the inevitable.

"So, Alek," John piped in. While some boys wanted the dance around the subject, he was the one about to get to the point, Alek could feel it. "When were you going to plan on telling us how whipped you were?" Yep, Alek was totally psychic.

Alek just dropped his chin to his chest and shook it, chuckling to himself a little bit. Here we go…

"I thought that it was relatively obvious, didn't you?" He smiled at his "friends". Well, some of them actually were, but half of the guys in the group, which was currently made out of six, were just sort of there…

Tyler used to be the seventh. But then, after the entire incident with Chloe, the guys on the team backed Alek up and began to shun him. Alek would occasionally glance over to Tyler and feel a little bit bad for him, but then he remembered how much he scared Chloe and how he had yet to apologize, and the sympathy disappeared in an instant.

"Well, we thought that it was a honeymoon phase. And guys like you don't last in honeymoon phases for more than a week. Unless if they become whipped, of course. Which you are. Totally whipped." Sean put in his two cents.

"You sound like you're trying to convince me that I'm whipped…" even though Alek had just admitted that he was…

"We know, dude. We're just making sure. Double checking, you know?" Mike said.

"Yeah, Alek. So, is 'yes, I am whipped' your final answer?" Sean pushed a little bit, curious for this piece of gossip.

"Yes, it is. I am whipped for—or by, I don't know the correct terminology—Chloe King. Happy?" Alek chuckled again.

"Sure. But, dude, Alek. We just never pictured you to be the 'whipped' kind of guy…" Matt declared.

"Don't worry, I never did either. But, trust me, with a girl as amazing as Chloe, you would be completely okay with proclaiming yourself whipped." With a last smile to his teammates and the entrance of the teacher, the conversation was over. And Alek could now live his life in peace. He'd probably endure more teasing for this later, but, for now, all was good.

It was around 6:30 in the King household when Chloe ran downstairs, dressed in white skinny jeans, black ankle boots with about a one inch heel and an off the shoulder top that was a soft green and was quite loose, paired with a white belt in the middle of it.

Alek had decided that, since it was, after all, a Friday night, the two of them should head out on a date. Chloe knew that he had something up his sleeves, but he just wouldn't tell her. He said that he wanted to surprise her.

"Hey, mom?"

"I'm on the patio!" Chloe made her way towards her mother, who was looking up at the stars admirably. "Doesn't the sky just look beautiful tonight?"

"Yeah, it really does." Chloe and Meredith stood there in silence for a minute, looking at the stars, before Chloe spoke up. "I'm going out with Alek tonight, if that's alright with you…" She knew that it was, her mother had fallen in love with her boyfriend, platonically, thank goodness, but there was no harm in asking.

"Of course, sweetheart! That's not a problem at all! Just be back by midnight! When is he coming to pick you up?"

"In about half an hour."

"Nice. Where is he taking you?"

"I have no idea. He said that he wanted to 'surprise me'," Chloe mocked.

"Oh, surprises! Surprises are always fun! And I'm sure with someone like Alek, you two will have one romantic Friday evening!" Meredith nudged her daughter, excited for her and her luck in her love life.

"I don't know about that. I'm kind of nervous…"

"Are you sure that it's not Alek making you nervous?"

"Mom, please. He and I have been dating for two weeks and have been friends and have been hanging out for almost two months. I'm pretty sure that I have surpassed the whole 'being nervous around him' phase."

"Oh, honey, please. When I was still dating your father, I would get nervous for any date with him, even if it wasn't a surprise, and even after we had been dating for over a year. Trust me, that rush of butterflies you get, it never gets old and it never goes away." Meredith smiled at her daughter.

"Good. I'm kind of beginning to like those butterflies."

The two King girls spent the rest of the time before Alek showed up outside looking at the sky. Finally, the doorbell rang, and Chloe jumped with anticipation.

"Don't forget your jacket, and tell Alek I say 'hi'!" Meredith called out as Chloe was making her way towards the door, grabbing her black leather jacket and her phone on the way out.

"Okay, mom. Love you, bye!"

"Implied!"

Chloe came to the door and took a deep breath while she walked, even though she knew that it wouldn't help her calm down, especially since Alek would hear her. She then opened to door to be greeted by practically the same sight that had greeted her the night before. And the butterflies from last night came back, too.

Alek was glad in one if his tight shirts, again. This one was white and had a few buttons on the tops, three of which were unbuttoned. He was wearing dark jeans, lighter than the ones he wore yesterday, but dark nonetheless.

"Hey, there, handsome." Chloe stepped out of her house and closed the door before she reached up and pecked Alek on the lips.

In response, he took her hand and led her to the passenger seat of his car. It still seemed weird to Chloe that Alek had a car, since she was so used to seeing him walk everywhere.

"At the risk of sounding redundant, I must say you look quite lovely, love." This made Chloe blush and look down.

Suddenly, she lost the warmth of Alek's hand in hers. She looked up to see what he was doing and saw him pull out a piece of black fabric from his back pocket. Chloe stared at it for a moment before managing to put two and two together.

"No, no, no, no, no. There is no way in hell, Alek Petrov, that you are blindfolding me. No way."

"Oh, come on, Chloe. Please?" Alek begged. "I promise that I won't hurt you and I promise that you will love it!"

Chloe looked at Alek hesitantly. He looked like such a little boy for a moment, pleading with slightly puppy dog eyes that Chloe couldn't stand to say no.

"Ugh, fine." Chloe sighed. She saw Alek's face light up as she turned around so that he could place the blindfold over her eyes and tie a knot in the back of her head.

Once Alek was sure that the blindfold was secure, he let his hands fall down as they ran along Chloe's arms, sending a noticeable shiver down her spine. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her neck and mumbled a "thank you" into her ear before he gently led her into the car.

The car ride was relatively silent, most of the dialogue consisting of Chloe asking where they were going and Alek simply responding with a chuckle and a "we'll be there soon".

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Chloe could feel the car come to a stop. Before Chloe even had time to unbuckl her seatbelt, due to her having no idea where it was, Alek was already waiting for her with an open door. Chloe carefully made her way out of the car. She then heard Alek close her door before speaking up.

"Alright, Romeo. Lead the way." Chloe stuck out her hand, waiting for Alek to take it and show her wherever they were. Instead, she was caught by surprise to feel Alek's hand around her back and under her knees, lifting her up into his arms as Chloe squealed. "Alek! What the hell?" she giggled.

"Trust me, it would take much longer for us to get to the place if you walked blindly than if I just carried you there."

Chloe felt herself being carried up a flight of stairs as she secured her arms around Alek's neck and rested her head on his shoulder. She felt her feet touch the ground momentarily as she heard Alek pulling out a set of keys and unlocking a door before taking Chloe back up into his arms, kicking the door closed behind him. She felt him walk a little bit more before he set her down one final time.

"We're here. Just hold on one minute." Alek said as he rummaged through the set of keys again to open yet another door. Chloe heard the click of the lock and felt Alek's hand on the small of her back, pushing her forward. "Here we are."

Chloe reached behind her head to untie the blindfold, but what she in front of her was the last thing that she ever expected.

Alek had taken her to a dancing studio, and he had set it up just for her.

The lights were turned off, but candles colored red, orange and yellow surrounded all four walls. The room was a moderate size. It had light brown flooring and there was one wall that was entirely full of mirrors. There was also a stereo resting in the corner. It was beautiful.

"Alek, this is…" Chloe couldn't find the right word to describe it all. "You did this all for me?"

"No, I did this for my other girlfriend, but she bailed on me last minute, so I brought you here instead." Chloe turned around to see Alek smiling, no, beaming at her. She shot him a playful glare before continuing deeper into the room to admire it.

"How in the world did you manage this?"

"A friend of Valentina's owns this place. He's a pretty cool guy, kind of fell into the role of that crazy uncle to me. So, I asked him for a favor and… viola."

"This is absolutely magnificent. But, what are we doing her?"

"I," Alek approached Chloe seductively, "am going to teach you how to tango." Alek then pulled out a remote control from his back pocket and pressed play, resulting in smooth music beginning to play. "May I have this dance?" Alek slowly bowed and offered Chloe her hand.

The moment she placed her hand in his, he pulled her quickly into him, so that their bodies were pressed against each other in all possible places. He put his other hand right underneath Chloe's shoulder blade as she put hers on Alek's shoulder, right on the edge were his arm started.

"Just follow my lead," Alek spoke quietly and huskily before he began to lead Chloe.

_Birds flying high, you know how I feel_

_Sun in the sky, you know how I feel_

_Breeze drifting on by, you know how I feel_

_It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me_

Alek gently pushed Chloe forward, left foot, then right foot. Chloe wanted to look down at her feet to make sure that they were going in the right place, but she was captivated by Alek's intense gaze that she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from him.

_And I'm feeling good_

Suddenly Alek jerked Chloe to his left, lowering her just a bit, before pulling her abruptly towards a standing position once again. He pushed them forward just a few more steps before take a sharp spin, practically lifting Chloe off of her feet.

_I'm feeling good_

She was drifting while she was dancing with him, lost in a daze of sensuality. Chloe had rapidly fallen in love with the tango, mostly because she loved being flush against Alek's chest. She also seemed to fall into even deeper love with Alek. She loved this side of him, the suave man. She loved this dominant side of him, how he looked down to her with a look that told her that he's got everything under control.

_Fish in the sea, you know how I feel._

_River running free, you know how I feel_

_Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel_

_It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me_

Alek lead Chloe around the room, stepping and turning sharply. He could feel the electricity and adrenaline running between himself and Chloe. He loved the sense of having her in his arms. He loved the feeling that he was the one in control and that he was showing Chloe how to do what so she couldn't fight back and take the control away from him. He loved the sense of having Chloe be dependent on him and how she allowed him to lead her and silently tell her what to do. He loved dancing with her.

_And I'm feeling good_

Alek abruptly let go of his hold on Chloe's back and pushed her straight backwards, causing Chloe to drop in a dip. He then, just as sharply, pulled her back into position, causing her hair to fly all over the place, some landing in her face and some brushing on Alek's face and resting in a disarray on her shoulders. Alek couldn't remember the last time he had ever seen something so sexy.

_Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don't you know_

_Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean_

_Sleep in peace when day is done, that's what I mean_

_And this old world is a new world and a bold world for me_

The tempo sped up a little bit, causing Alek to lead Chloe around the room at a quicker pace. Sometimes, when he'd make a turn or spin the two of them around, they were so sudden that Chloe's feet actually left the ground. This resulted in Alek pushing Chloe's chest closer to his, something that Chloe was definitely not complaining about.

_For me_

Alek let Chloe out to spin her around various times. He loved how her hair flew in the air, lagging behind a bit because of its length, once again making its way onto Chloe's face. He sharply reeled Chloe back in dipped her to side, letting her hang in his arms for a moment, staring into her eyes, which held a slightly startled emotion, before slowly pulling her back into a standing position.

_Stars when you shine, you know how I feel_

_Scent of the pine, you know how I feel_

_Oh, freedom is mine, and I know how I feel_

Alek's hand lowered from under Chloe's shoulder to the side of her waist. He then swung her and lunged to the side. Chloe caught along, having seen a few films with the tango in it. She swung on leg over Alek's which was bent and slowly dragged her other leg behind, kicking it up and crossing her legs. She was now sitting on Alek's thigh, smirking at him, showing him that she wasn't completely clueless in the art of the tango.

Alek smirked back, proud of his girl and slowly bent Chloe backwards to that her back and thighs were horizontal to the ground while her legs remained crossed on Alek's thigh.

_It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life_

_It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life_

Alek slowly let Chloe move her way upwards, maintaining eye contact with such passion that anyone else would feel like they've intruded in the most private moment possible. Which they would have.

_It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life_

Alek had had enough of Chloe's slow climb to a straight position, so he jerked her upwards, allowing her to flow out of his arms, but remaining hand in hand. He then quickly reeled her back in.

_It's a new life for me, and I'm feeling good_

Once Chloe was securely back in his arms, he didn't even give her a chance to regain her steps as he dipped her to the side once again. Chloe leaned her head downwards, exposing her neck towards Alek. He then leaned down to place a soft kiss on Chloe's skin, not being able to let the opportunity slip away.

_I feel so good, I feel so good._

Chloe then tilted her head back up to Alek, looking into his eyes with an intense stare. As the music faded out, Alek and Chloe remained in this position, gazing into each other's eyes, not saying a word as they slowly began to catch their breaths.

All too soon, it was over, and Alek pulled Chloe back up into a standing position. Neither of them moved out of the other's hold, neither of them spoke a word. They stood in silence, simply listening to each other regain their breath and listening to each other's heartbeats begin to slow down a bit.

"That was…" Chloe began, but she couldn't find the proper word to describe how she felt at the moment. Or how she felt about dancing with Alek. Saying that it felt absolutely magnificent and wonderful would do injustice to her feelings. It would be the understatement of the century.

For the next hour or two, Alek and Chloe danced a little bit more around the room. They goofed off occasionally, he chased her if she teased him, resulting in a tickling fight or in a wrestling match, where Alek would always end up winning, but would make Chloe feel better by chastely kissing her each and every time.

Alek had continued teaching Chloe how to tango, only doing so for a few songs, but no dance was as sensual and as personal as the first one. Alek also decided to teach Chloe the waltz, where Chloe caught along quite quickly. However, when Alek tried to show Chloe how to do the fox trot or any other extremely fast paced dances, that would result in more laughter than dancing, as Chloe would somehow manage to either trip over her feet or to step on Alek's. All in all, it was a perfect date.

All too soon, the dancing had to come to an end. Alek began blowing out the candles and Chloe helped.

"What should we do with them?" Chloe asked once it had become completely dark in the room.

"Leave them. They're always here, just in case, for special occasions. Like this one. James is always prepared." Chloe figured James was the Mai who owned the dance studio as Alek led her out of the room.

Suddenly, Alek pulled the blindfold out of his pocket once again, earning himself a raised eyebrow from his girlfriend.

"Really? Again?" Chloe crossed her arms.

"Oh, come on, did this surprise hurt? Just one more!" Alek pleaded with her once again. Soon, Chloe gave in and allowed Alek to tie the blindfold at the back of her head once again. She once again expected to be simply lead somewhere by Alek, but was not as surprised as the first time when Alek picked her up in his arms.

She felt him move for a minute, stop for about fifteen seconds and then move another three or four steps before stopping once again. After about another fifteen seconds, Chloe became curious concerning the lack of Alek moving.

"Alek?"

"Yes, Chloe?"

"You're not moving…"

"We're in an elevator."

"In that case, you can put me down."

"I don't want to." Chloe could hear Alek's genuine smile through his voice.

"I love you." She whispered to him.

"I love you."

There was a pause in the conversation before Chloe spoke up.

"How come you don't say the 'too' part?"

"Because I want you to know that it's not just a response."

Chloe could feel her heart melt inside of her and herself melt in his arms and she rested her head on his shoulders and snuggled a little bit closer to him. She then felt Alek press his lips to her forehead, making her smile to herself even more.

The rest of the ride, which was much longer than Chloe would have expected it to be, was spent in a comfortable and sweet silence. Chloe felt the elevator stop and Alek began walking. He soon placed Chloe gently on the ground, keeping his hand on her back as he rummaged through his set of keys again and opened another door.

"Alright, we're basically there," Alek said as he took Chloe's hands in his and slowly led her. She felt a rush of cold wind, making her shiver a little bit, although she wasn't entirely sure that that was from just the wind.

After what seemed like forever, she felt Alek's fingers on the back of her head, undoing the knot of the blindfold. Once the fabric slipped off of her eyes, Chloe gasped in awe.

The sight before her was absolutely stunning. They were on the rooftop of a high rise, looking out over San Francisco. Chloe hadn't realized that the dance studio was on the bottom floor, but that would explain the long elevator ride.

It was one of the only places in the center of the city where you could see the stars. And boy, were they bright tonight. Along with the full moon, everything was perfect. Chloe could stare at the sky for ages, just like she had with her mother a few hours ago. And she was so happy that she could share this view with Alek.

As she turned to Alek to thank him and to praise him for his romantic bone, her eye caught a light over his shoulder. When she paid more attention to it, she saw that it was a picnic set up. The blanket was the classic white and red checkered kind. There were a few pillows lying around to make sitting on the hard surface of the roof more comfortable. Once again, there was no lighting. Just the candles surrounding the blanket, the sky and the city. There was a woven picnic basket in the middle of the blanket, awaiting the two lovers.

"Alek…" Chloe couldn't finish her sentence, she didn't know with what to finish it. But she didn't have to. She figured that Alek understood what she was trying to convey when she saw him blushing just a little bit, something that he obviously trying to hide.

"Shall we eat?" Alek said, gesturing towards the picnic. Chloe simply nodded in response, allowing Alek to lead her to it.

They took a seat on the blanket, easing themselves onto the pillows. Alek then opened the picnic basket and produced two different sandwiches.

"I know it's not much of a dinner, but I didn't exactly want the food to be attacked by bugs, so prepackaging had to be used…"

"Alek, don't worry about it." Chloe placed her hand on Alek's wrist in a relieving manner. "It's perfect."

Alek simply smiled in response and handed a sandwich to Chloe. He then pulled out two bottles of strawberry soda, surprising Chloe, to say the least.

"How did you know that that's my favorite drink?" Chloe exclaimed.

"Well, I'd say that it was a lucky guess, but, in truth, I got Amy to tell me." Alek smiled sheepishly, earning himself a chuckled from Chloe.

She took the bottle of soda from Alek and found herself somehow falling even deeper in love with the boy than she thought possible.

Their dinner was full of witty banter and talk of endless subjects that never really mattered. It was such easy conversation, even Alek was surprised. He had never felt so comfortable with anyone like this ever since his parents died and his adoptive parents shunned him. Well, maybe sometimes, with Jasmine or Valentina, but even with that in mind, the fluidity of the conversation with Chloe astonished him.

When it came time for dessert, Alek managed to surprise Chloe once more as he pulled out two pieces of chocolate cake.

"You thought of everything, didn't you?"

"Chloe, I've been planning this date for over a week now." Alek smiled, causing Chloe to erupt in laughter, titling her head back and looking at him once again with a smile. Alek's gaze was still on her, which made her smile laughter turn into a smile of blushing. "To our two week anniversary." Chloe's heart melted once again and the two of them clinked their soda bottles and drank some of the remaining liquid.

Once their dinner was done, Alek put all of the trash back into the basket and blew out all of the candles. He then lay back on the blanket and pillows and opened his arms, inviting Chloe to come and snuggle into him. Which is exactly what she did.

"So, where are we, exactly?"

"See that blue building right over there?" Alek pointed to a building that, when Chloe raised her head to see, seemed to be about four or five blocks away from the one that they were on. "That's the building where my apartment is." Chloe simply nodded in understanding.

Chloe settled back into her boyfriend's arms and began to enjoy the stars again.

She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Alek was her _boyfriend_. If someone had told her two years ago that she would fall in love with the cocky new blonde British boy that almost instantly was sucked into the whirlwind of high school popularity, she would have been convinced that that person should be committed to a mental institution. But now, she was doing the farthest thing from complaining about it. She had a beautiful, protective, intelligent, loving and caring boyfriend and she honestly couldn't ask for anything more.

Alek's mind was on the same train. Had someone told him two years that he would fall in love with the girl that was friends with Crazy Amy and the comic-obsessed boy, he would have stared at them as if they were a dancing lollipop from Pluto. He would have deemed it impossible. But he still couldn't believe that he had gotten this lucky with such a perfect girlfriend, and he thanked Bastet every day for the chance to love her.

Unfortunately, the night soon had to come to an end. It was almost 11:30 and Chloe had to be home by midnight.

Once Alek drove up to Chloe's house, he got out of the car to open the door for Chloe and walk her to the door. However, Chloe was still not used to the chivalry that Alek would constantly express.

Alek had to jump and slide over the front of his car in order to make it in time to open Chloe's door. He bought himself some time as well, as Chloe's jaw dropped due to the shock of seeing Alek doing something so spy-like and smooth. It was a move she could swear she'd only seen in a James Bond film or something along those lines.

"Show off," she muttered as Alek opened the door for her, smirking at her. He then placed his arm around her shoulders and put his hand on Chloe's upper arm, pulling her closer to him. Once they were right in front of Chloe's door, Alek turned towards her.

"So, I'm just going to go clean up a bit at the studio and I should be in your room in about an hour."

"Oh, Alek, you should have let me help you clean up there!"

"Don't worry about it, love. I don't mind cleaning it up. It shouldn't take that long."

"You're the perfect gentleman, you know," Chloe whispered as she stepped closer to Alek and placed her hands on his chest, looking up towards him in anticipation of a kiss.

"I've been told," Alek replied smugly before placing his hands on her hips and lowering his lips onto hers.

This kiss was unlike any other kiss that they had shared. It was delicate but passionate. Their tongues didn't ensue in a battle for dominance, but they lit each other's lips on fire.

It all ended too quickly, unfortunately, when they heard Meredith open the door. They instantly pulled apart, leaving them both blushing.

"It's exactly midnight. Punctual. Good job, Alek." Meredith smiled at the two kids. Not smugly, and not with accusation, but genuinely.

"Hi, Ms. King." Alek spoke shyly. That's not something you encounter every day. "We'll, I'll be off, then." Alek turned to Chloe as Meredith averted her gaze. "Chloe, I had a wonderful time. Thank you." He leaned down to place a soft and quick kiss on Chloe's lips.

"Thank you for taking me." Chloe smiled up at him.

"Good night, Ms. King."

"Good night, Alek." And, with that, he was on his way, leaving Chloe to turn to her mother and raise a brow.

"Mom, be honest. Were you spying on me?"

"Chloe, you know I wouldn't. And, honestly, if I had been, I wouldn't have interrupted your kiss. Although someone would have had to eventually, or you'd be standing out here all night."

"Mom!"

"What? I said I didn't spy! I just… heard his car pull up, that's all!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." Chloe smiled at her mother as she made her way into the house.

"Oh, so, I just wanted to let you know that I won't be here when you wake up tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere for long, I'm just going on an overnight trip to LA and I have to be at the train station at seven in the morning. I'm sorry I've been skipping out on you so much lately." Meredith tucked a loose strand of hair behind her daughter's ear.

"Don't worry about it, mom. I totally understand. I'm just glad that things are going really well at work for you."

"Thanks, sweetie." They stood there silently for a moment, smiling at each other. "Well, anyways, I'm going off to bed. I've got a long day tomorrow. Good night, Chloe! Love you!"

"Implied. Have fun!" And with that, both King girls went off to bed, one falling asleep and the other waiting for her prince charming.

Chloe and Alek spent the night simply cuddling together under the covers, whispering sweet nothings into each other's ear until they fell asleep. It was the perfect end to the perfect evening.

Chloe awoke to an empty bed, but had a feeling that Alek was downstairs in the kitchen. He wouldn't leave her house without leaving her a note of some sort. Or at least one red rose, since that seemed to be their little signal now.

Chloe stretched and yawned before finally getting out of bed, brushing her teeth and making her way downstairs. The sight that greeted her both made her smile and frightened her a bit at the same time.

Alek was shirtless and clad only in his boxers, showing off his chest and his legs perfectly, but his face was rigid. Angry, even. He looked as if he was reading something that he really didn't like.

He must have heard Chloe come downstairs and turned to face her. The smile on her face immediately disappeared.

"What the hell is this?" Alek said, holding up a piece of paper.

Chloe recognized it to be the letter she had gotten earlier in the week from Brian.

Shit.

**CLIFF HANGER **

**Woot! 6,500 words! Wow, that's a long chapter. I hope that that makes up for all of the spontaneous delays recently! Or at least starts to…**

**Anyways, thank you for reading this, and I hope you liked it. Please review, you know how much I love them. See you in the next chapter!**


	12. Fights

**Chapter 12! Woot, here we go.**

**Sorry about the cliff hanger last chapter, but I felt that it was slightly necessary, just to get things moving along a bit But that's what I've been trying for a really fast update! I mean, as I write this author's note, I genuinely don't have a clue as to whether or not I end up fulfilling my promise since my parents have suddenly decided to go psycho on me, but I'm trying **

**Also, fair warning/request… PLEASE DON'T HATE ME AFTER YOU READ THIS CHAPTER. AND PLEASE DON'T DITCH ME AND IGNORE THE NEXT CHAPTER! I'll make it worth your while… **

**Also, I have been receiving quite a few private messages and reviews saying that you guys want Alek and Chloe to have sex… And I don't really want to go there. I really want to keep this story T rated, but, if you want, you can private message me and maybe we'll collaborate on an M rated story to accompany this fic. Thanks **

**Anyways, without further ado, I present to you CHAPTER 12**

_He must have heard Chloe come downstairs and turned to face her. The smile on her face immediately disappeared._

"_What the hell is this?" Alek said, holding up a piece of paper._

_Chloe recognized it to be the letter she had gotten earlier in the week from Brian._

_Shit._

Chloe felt so screwed. How could she have been so careless as to leave the letter lying around anywhere? Of course Alek was going to find it! Ugh, stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Um, that's a letter…" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Yes, good, Chloe. It's a letter. It also happens to be a letter from _Brian_." Alek looked at her accusingly. How could she keep this? After everything that he had said and after what she had told him and after what Brian had done to him?

"Alek, I get letters. So what if it's from Brian? There's no need to freak out about this." Chloe was trying so hard to stay out of trouble, to walk around the burning building.

Alek turned around to face away from Chloe. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. How could this happen? Alek placed his hands on the counter, leaning forwards on them, still facing away from her.

"When were you planning on telling me about it?" Alek whispered. Human ears might have missed his words, but Chloe could hear them loud and clear. She could also hear the hurt in his voice.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal," she defended.

"_That big of a deal_?" Alek whipped around to face Chloe once again, eyes filled with rage. "He called you a whore for not liking him. He pressured you to move forward in your relationship when you weren't actually ready. He _jumped_ me, your boyfriend and protector, and attacked me to blood and bruises. Not to mention the fact that the fucking Order helped him along, which, as it is quite evident now, he is a part of!"

"Alek, calm down," Chloe pleaded with him. She hated seeing him so worked up. I mean, seriously, was it _that _terrible that she simply got a letter?

A moment of silence between the two of them, awkwardness and tension filling in the space between Chloe, who was still standing on the last step, and Alek, who remained in the kitchen. Alek looked down, avoiding eye contact with Chloe.

"Are you planning on going?" he asked. He spoke softly, but this time, his voice could reach human ears.

"Yes," Alek's head snapped upwards. "_But_," Chloe put her hands up in an attempt to prevent Alek from being worked up again. "But, I'm going to see him to tell him personally that I don't ever want to speak to him again. So, if he tries to debate or convince me otherwise, there won't be the lagging of text or e-mail to prevent me from shutting him down instantly."

Chloe thought that she had convinced Alek. She thought that her reasoning was good enough to get him to be okay with her going. She figured that, due to the lack of response, Alek was okay with her going.

She thought wrong.

Alek was rummaging through his brain, trying to find some way, some excuse to get Chloe to stay home tonight. Maybe he would tell her to go, but then trick her into staying… No, then she'd be infuriated with him. Maybe he could enlist Jasmine's help… No, she wouldn't want to get involved.

He soon realized that the only way to get Chloe to stay was simply by asking her.

"Please don't go," Alek spoke as he slowly began to make his way towards Chloe. In response, she finally took a stepped off of the stairs and placed her foot in front of her, preparing to make another move.

"And why not, Alek?" She was about to yell at him for his, what she thought was, ridiculous demand, but then she saw the begging look in her eyes that caused her to reply in the same tone with which he pleaded.

"Because I don't want you to go."

"Tell me why you don't."

"Chloe…"

"Tell me why you don't, and I might consider not going." Chloe hated giving Alek these terms. She hated that she could hear how tense and how firm her voice was. But she knew that there would be no other way that Alek would talk to her.

"Because I…" Alek was trying so hard to find the right words to use. He just couldn't seem to find them, however. So he resorted to the most basic words that he could find that wouldn't get him into too much trouble. "Because I don't trust him, Chloe. I genuinely don't."

"Alek,… Are you… jealous?" Chloe looked at him, fearing the answering. On one hand, she hoped that this wouldn't be the answer, because then that would mean that Alek might not trust her as much as she thought he did. On the other hand, however, she hoped that that would be the answer. Maybe then she would be able to laugh it off, assure Alek that there wasn't any need to worry.

Chloe couldn't understand why she was so desperate to see Brian. It's not like she was looking forward to his company. She never had looked forward to it before, at least, not as much as she had lead on, and she still couldn't forgive him for what he said to her and especially for what he did to Alek. But she just needed to see him. She knew that she wouldn't be able to relate what she needed to say and how she needed to say it to Brian through technology. But, still, there really shouldn't have been a need. But there was.

"No, Chloe, that's not it. You told me that you never really liked him, and I believe you." Alek paused to take a deep breath. "But, still. Chloe, he works for the Order. You remember, that organization that has been out to kill you? And take away every single one of your remaining nine lives?"

"Alek, he doesn't know that I'm Mai or that I'm the Uniter. He would have done something about it _ages_ ago if he did. Trust me, I've seen him walk by the store. He truly looks remorseful, and not the kind that you can fake!"

"Seriously, Chloe? You're going to trick yourself into thinking that? You know better than that!" Oops, wrong choice of words.

"'I know better than that'? What the hell is that supposed to mean? That I'm being immature? That I'm being unreasonable? Really, Alek? This is what you have resorted to? Attempting to make me feel stupid for going?"

"Chloe, you know that's not what I meant…"

"Then what did you mean?" Chloe crossed her arms, waiting to see how the always witty and never speechless Alek Petrov was going to weasel his way out of this one.

"What I meant was that you're choosing to overlook and ignore something. Chloe, I know you know that this isn't a good idea. I can't stress to you enough how much it bothers me that he works for the order and that you're about to see him. _Alone_. He's bad news, Chloe, and you know it. And it's not just because he's a jerk. This could be a trap!"

"He's meeting me at a café on the waterfront. One that is actually quite popular. I'd be surprised if we even get a table. I can assure you that Brian isn't stupid enough to pull anything in such a crowded place, in front of so many witnesses. He's human. He won't have the time or the strength or the agility to take out _that _many people. What can't you just trust me?" Oh, that question. The question that always puts the guy into the most uncomfortable situation, one where the chances of him weaseling his way out were close to none. Either he said what was on his mind and he lost the fight and the girl, or he could give in, panic all night and still lost the fight, and maybe even the girl.

"It's not you I don't trust. It's him." Alek looked down shyly.

"Well, if you trust me, then you should trust my judgment."

"Your judgment is clouded by your emotions. I don't want you going anywhere near him. I don't want you contacting him, let alone going to see him on a Saturday night. I don't want him within a five mile radius of you. I want him out of your life. For good."

That was the final straw. Chloe couldn't take Alek and his opinions any more. This was absolutely ridiculous.

"Alek, I'm going, whether you like it or not! I don't give a fuck about what you say! I'm not some stupid dog that you can order around and expect to listen to you every. Damn. Fucking. Time."

The moment those words escaped her mouth, Chloe regretted saying them. She saw Alek's facial expression change from firm concern to infuriated hurt and disbelief within a millisecond after she uttered them. Chloe had never hated herself more than she did in that moment.

Alek didn't even bother responding. He knew that he couldn't. He just stared at Chloe in disbelief for about ten seconds before he tore his gaze from her and stormed past her, running up the stairs.

"Alek…" He could hear the tears in Chloe's voice that she was holding back but he was so not in the mood to care. And, even though all he truly wanted to do at the moment was come back downstairs and apologize like he'd never apologized before, he knew that he couldn't betray himself like that.

He slammed her door, not caring about how immature he seemed at the moment. He'd never gotten dressed as quickly as he did that morning, rushing out of Chloe's window and away from the girl that just shattered his heart into a million pieces.

Chloe still stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring up the steps. She couldn't believe that that just happened. Now that she thought about it, Alek did kind of have a point. Oh, why did she have to be so stubborn!

Chloe felt her knees slowly start to give out. She bent down to sit on a step, holding onto the railing so that she wouldn't completely collapse, and, resting her elbows on her knees, buried her face into her hands.

For the first time since she was eight years old and realized that her dad really wasn't coming back, she cried like a little girl, letting her tears flood over her hands, her arms, her knees and the floor.

In about an hour and a half, Chloe had finally worked up the strength to call Amy. She didn't say a word, just let one sob escape, and Amy immediately informed her that she would pick up Paul and they would be at her house within the next half hour.

By the time her two best friends got there, Chloe had managed to force herself onto the couch and curl up under a blanket. She didn't even acknowledge the fact that Amy and Paul had entered her room. She even jumped a little bit when Amy placed a hand on her back to rub it sympathetically.

"If Amy were an assassin, Chloe, you would be dead by now," Paul spoke softly in an attempt to cheer Chloe up.

Chloe's lips began to quiver.

"That's what Alek used to say…" And thus, she erupted into yet another fit of sobs.

Amy managed to pull Chloe up into a sitting position so that she could hug her more easily.

"Shhh, Chloe, it's going to be alright. Just calm down, everything will be fine." Amy didn't know about the truth of her words, but it seemed to be working just a little. She then shot a look saying "Really, Paul?" to her boyfriend, who shrugged in guilt. Amy knew that it wasn't his fault, but still, that wouldn't have been the smartest thing to say even if Alek hadn't said that.

After another crying session, where the air was only filled with Chloe's sobs and where Paul actually helped comfort her, and an action film that had the least amount of romance possible, accompanied by sheer junk food, Chloe seemed to have calmed down. Her eyes were still puffy and her nose was still stuffy, but she had managed to cry out everything that she had within the past four hours.

Finally, and although no one really wanted to do so, it was time to talk.

Chloe didn't want to talk about it, but she knew that she had to tell someone. Amy and Paul didn't really want to hear about what caused Chloe to bawl for four hours, although that might have been mostly out of fear that she would start crying again.

Chloe began to tell the story, and somehow managed to not cry again. She shed a tear or two, of course, and she felt herself reach the edge several times, but then she would pause, take a deep breath and continue. She knew that she had cried too much for one day. She had to stay strong. And talking about what had happened really did make her feel better. But only a little bit.

"So, are you going to go?" Paul asked the question they were all avoiding.

Chloe took a moment to really think about it. On one hand, she needed to tell Brian what she needed to say. On the other hand, there was Alek. Was Brian really worth it? That is, if there was still something worth fighting for…

"I think I will. I don't know what's going on between me and Alek right now, but I really need to talk to Brian and tell him to piss off once and for all."

"What about Alek?" Amy asked,

"Alek… I don't know. I don't know if we're even still together after that fight. I'm not entirely sure where we stand, but, no matter what, I need to talk to Brian. He needs to hear what I have to say."

"If you're sure…" Amy said.

Suddenly, Chloe's phone rang. She picked it up to see Jasmine's face on her screen. After getting over her momentary confusion, Chloe answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Chloe? Thank god you're still home."

"Jasmine, what happened? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. Well, not really. Alek came in a while ago and has been a complete and utter mess ever since. He wouldn't tell me what happened until now, and I'm still only getting a few words, like 'fight' and 'letter' and 'Brian' and 'Chloe' and 'coffee shop' and 'waterfront'. Care to connect the dots for me?"

Chloe took a big breath before she continued.

"Alek and I got into a huge fight because I got a letter from Brian asking me to meet him at a coffee shop in the waterfront. Basically, I wanted to go because I need to set him straight and Alek didn't want me to. He said he didn't trust him."

There was no response on the other end of the line for a moment. Chloe began to worry that Jasmine suddenly began to hate her.

"Chloe, listen, I understand that you probably won't listen to me, since you didn't listen to Alek, but Brian isn't good news. Alek doesn't just lack trust for him because of what you had. I don't trust him either, for some of the same reasons that Alek doesn't." Jasmine's voice was surprisingly calm, reassuring Chloe that she didn't hate her, but it was still firm. She was trying to convince someone of something but was obviously going to be ignored. That had to be a tough job to do.

"I know, I know. But there will be someone watching me, right?"

"Well, yeah, I guess…"

"And Brian wouldn't dare do anything in public."

"Chloe…"

"Jas, trust me."

Jasmine couldn't respond for a moment. Back in the apartment, she glanced over to Alek to see him sitting on the couch, head in hands. She knew that he was listening in.

"Alright, Chloe. But please, for both my sake and Alek's, please be careful."

"I will be, don't worry." And with that, Jasmine hung up the phone.

"How can you be so calm? How can you just agree to let her go?" Alek asked her. Jasmine turned around to him, seeing that he was still staring at the ground. She felt so bad for him. She just sat down next to him, as it was all that she could do.

"Because she would have gone anyways. But, this way, she might be stronger, have a clearer mind, be less vulnerable if she knows that one of us is supporting her."

There was a silence between them, something that had been occurring all over San Francisco today, before Jasmine spoke up again.

"You still love her, don't you?"

"Of course, I do, Jas. What kind of a question is that?"

"I don't know, I'm just making sure."

"I still love her. I've loved her for forever. And I will love her for as long as I possibly can. I just don't know what to do right now…"

"Just give her today to cool off. There's always tomorrow. You'll go and talk to her tomorrow. I'm sure that she's just as regretful about what happened this morning as you are. I could hear it in her voice."

Alek was eternally grateful for his cousin and her wise words. They didn't make him feel completely better, but they certainly cheered him up just a tad.

"Can we send a few extra Mai to watch over her tonight?"

"Sure, let me just make a few calls." Jasmine got up to walk to the phone, looking back at the poor sight that Alek was as she dialed a few numbers.

Soon, it was time for Chloe to meet up with Brian. Amy had selected an outfit of jeans, grey Chuck Taylors, a black long sleeve shirt and a blue scarf for her. She claimed that this outfit screamed "presentable, but the last thing I am trying to do is impress you".

It was already getting dark as Chloe reached the coffee shop. She saw Brian waiting for her and she saw how his face showed a little smirk before lighting up like it used. She technically should have been concerned by this, but she decided that she should just get this over with and approached him.

"Hey," Chloe croaked. Her voice was a bit hoarse from all of the crying that she did today.

"Hey. Is everything alright?" Brian asked. At first glance, it seemed like genuine concern, but Chloe knew better than that by now.

"Yeah, I just got into a fight with Alek, that's all." She didn't know why she said that. It just kind of came out. Like word vomit or something.

"Aw, I'm sorry." Brian draped his arm over Chloe's shoulders in attempt at being comforting.

Chloe could hear the insincerity seeping through Brian's voice. She had had enough of this.

"Don't give me that bull shit, Brian. You're the farthest thing from being sorry." She shoved Brian's arm off of the shoulders with such force that Brian was momentarily taken aback. Chloe saw the flash of anger on his face, but once again, decided to naively ignore it.

"You know what, you're right. I'm not sorry. Not sorry at all."

Chloe and Brian were steps away from the entrance of the coffee shop before she turned around and stopped, anger pulsing through her veins, reaching her eyes that glared at Brian.

"Listen up, Brian. I came here for one reason and one reason only. That is to tell you to back the fuck off. In the exact words of someone I know, I don't want you going anywhere near me. I don't want you contacting me, let alone asking me to see you. I don't want you within a five mile radius of me. I want you out of my life, for good."

Chloe stared at Brian with such an intense glare that even he was a bit startled. But he wasn't having any of that.

"Chloe, those are completely unreasonable requests…"

"Unreasonable, my ass. You even think of contacting me one more time, and I swear, you'll regret it instantly. That's a guarantee, and I can assure that I am a woman of my word." And, with that, Chloe turned on her heel and walked away, heading home so that she could forget all of this happened and think of a way to apologize to Alek.

She walked by an alley as she heard rushed steps behind her. She should have more aware of her surroundings, but her mind wasn't in the right place at the moment.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arm and yank her into the alley. She got the wind knocked out of her back hit the wall. Someone was standing over her, but, with the little lighting that was provided, along with her cat-like seeing abilities, she could tell that it was Brian.

"Here's another thing I'm not sorry about." Chloe saw him smirk at her.

Before Chloe could register anything in her mind, she felt Brian's fist collide with the front of her face. The hit sent her head backwards into the wall, hitting the brick with great force. Chloe could see the edges of her vision becoming blurrier and blacker.

She felt herself slumping and heard Brian cackling. She heard him speaking to someone else, saying something along the lines of "I've got her, dad".

Before she passed out completely, all she could think of was one thing. One word. One person.

_Alek_.

**That was an intense chapter, don't you think? **

**Now, please don't hate me for what I've done. First of all, Chloe and Alek never said that they were breaking up. I guess it's a just a rough patch. And Alek obviously still cares about Chloe, asking for back up for watching her, right?**

**And Chloe obviously still loves/needs Alek, right?**

**Don't worry, they won't be apart for long **

**Just please, bear with me for a little bit longer. I promise that I won't disappoint!**


	13. Calls and Scratches

**Hello, there!**

**Thank you to those who did not bail on me because of the last chapter!**

**I realize that it might not have been the best idea to post that kind of chapter after that kind of summer finale, but, in my defense, I watched the episodes **_**after**_** I posted the chapter… Haha**

**Anyways, this story is coming to thrilling points, and an actual action story line. I changed my mind so many times while writing the series about whether or not I should make this an action one, but, in the end, I decided I would.**

**Also, I've been attempting to answer every review I get, but sometimes, it's hard to keep up with what I've answered and what I haven't. So, if I haven't answered to your review, I would like to say thank you and I am terribly sorry for not doing so! **

**Anyways, without further ado, I present to you chapter 13**

Jasmine and Alek were sitting on the couch watching some movie. Jasmine had just cancelled a date with Eric, but he understood that she needed to be there for her cousin tonight, who was more like a really close brother.

Jasmine knew that the movie wasn't actually helping Alek, but it seemed to at least take his mind off of things for a little while. His fists weren't making his knuckles white anymore…

Neither of the Mai really knew what they were watching. Jasmine just popped in some DVD to distract Alek. Just as the sound from an explosion on screen died down, the home phone rang.

"I'll get it," Jasmine said as she left to answer it. She didn't even think that Alek heard her. He must have been so lost in his own thoughts. She'd never seen him like this before. "Hello?"

"Jasmine? Hi, it's Mark." A breathless voice spoke through the phone.

"Hey, Mark," by the mention of the name of one of Chloe's protectors for the night, Alek became attentive and started listening into the conversation. "Is everything alright?"

"No, actually. I have some awful news…" Jasmine saw Alek's facial expression tense up.

"What's wrong? Is Chloe alright?"

"That's just it. I have no idea. I saw her get pulled into an alley and I, along with John and Mason, tried to get closer to help her out, but without being traced, heard or seen. But then we heard Chloe's heartbeat begin to slow down and a car pulled up right in front of the alley. We went into full sprint, but, even then, Chloe had already been driven away."

Shit. Shit. Fuck. Damn it. Shit. Fuck. SHIT.

Those were the only words that were running through both Jasmine and Alek's mind at the moment. Jasmine was trying to remain calm, thinking about what her mother would do in this situation, while Alek was on the verge of a full blown panic attack.

Jasmine's heart was beating at an extremely fast rate. Not only had they lost the Uniter, who, no doubt, had been kidnapped by the Order, but she suddenly found herself in her mother's shoes. That was a task that she might not have been ready for. She didn't know how to gather Mai for an agenda. She had always felt awkward calling these men and women who were practically strangers. She never wanted to assume this role. She'd done her best so far to avoid this situation.

But right now was not a moment of fear or panic. Alek's emotions were getting in the way of his thinking straight, so someone had to be the rational one. Jasmine managed to quickly push aside her fears of failure and began to generate a plan.

"Mark, I want you, John and Mason to come here to the loft immediately. I'm going to make a few calls and get some more Mai to come here. We're then going to find her together. The Order probably has at least a dozen men with Chloe, wherever she is, and we need to be able to match them. Come straight here. Now."

"Okay" was the only word that Mark managed to squeeze out before Jasmine ended the phone call and began dialing other numbers.

Alek, meanwhile, was slowly coming back to rational thought. When he had completely regained himself, his mind quickly jumped to add something to Jasmine's plan.

"Call Amy and Paul. They can help us by being where Chloe would run to if she escaped." Jasmine ordered Alek. He simply nodded in return, thinking that it was a brilliant idea and that he should have thought of it on his own as he ran back to the couch to grab his phone.

He first called Paul, having a feeling that it would be easier and faster to talk to him.

"Hello?" answered the comic nerd.

"Paul, it's Alek."

"Hey, dude, what's up?" Paul's tone was full of curiosity, wondering why in the world the blonde Mai was calling him.

"Is Amy with you?"

"Yeah, man. Is everything alright?"

"No, Chloe's gotten kidnapped by the Order and I could really use your help." Alek stated. He heard Paul quickly inform Amy of what's going on before returning to the phone.

"Sure, Alek. Anything that we can do, we will."

"Good. Now, I need one of you to head to Chloe's house and the other person to come here to the loft. If Chloe somehow manages to escape, then she'll either come running to her house or here, and we need someone there to tell us when, or if, she comes home. Got it?" Alek rushed through his words, trying to get off of the phone and to finally spring into actually executing a plan as soon as possible.

"I'm heading over to Chloe's right now and Amy should be in your apartment in about 10 minutes. Is there anything else we can do?"

"Yes, if Chloe comes home, call me or Jasmine within the millisecond."

"Yep, already got that. We're on our ways."

"Thank you." Alek breathed out. He wasn't relieved much, because the love of his life was still in what probably is the most dangerous situation of her life, but at least he knew that someone he could truly trust was on board and was helping him out. In fact, two people that he was shocked that he trusted were on board.

"Alright, thanks. See you soon." Jasmine had just gotten off of the phone and turned to face Alek to tell him what's going on. "I've gathered about a dozen other Mai and they should be here in the next ten minutes. Did Amy and Paul say anything that could help us?"

"No, but I have them watching this apartment and Chloe's house, just in case she comes home. I know it's not much, but it would make knowing that she's safe much faster, even though the chances of her escaping are slim… I just need to have a small back up, you know?"

"I know Alek. But you have to promise me one thing tonight."

"What?"

"I know that you love Chloe. And I know that the first thing that is on your mind is making sure that we find Chloe and bring her to safety and then kill the ass holes that took her from your tonight. But, you have to promise me that you won't do anything stupid an irrational. We have an amazing team behind us, I called the best of the best, and I can assure you that we will have Chloe back with us, safe and sound, with you, by the end of the evening. Just promise me, think before you act. We always say that our lives combined aren't worth a single of Chloe's lives, but, if, and Bastet forbid, something happened to you tonight, Chloe wouldn't be much use of a Uniter to us."

Alek stared at his cousin for a moment. He didn't expect such grace, maturity and power to be emitted from her. She will make a fine pride leader one day.

As he thought about the words from Jasmine's lecture, he realized that she was right. He couldn't do anything stupid, even if it had the purest love for a reason. It wouldn't be helping anybody, just to throw himself in the middle of danger. If anything, it might distract someone like Jasmine from a battle and then she might get hurt. No, he had to think with his brain tonight and use his instincts, not let his heart dictate his actions. He can do that when Chloe is safely wrapped in the embrace of his arms.

"I promise." He uttered strongly. And he really did mean that.

"Thank you."

Jasmine and Alek waited for their recruits to arrive. Alek almost growled at the three men who let Chloe slip through their fingers, but Jasmine silently assured him that what they had tried to do was the best thing that anyone could have done in the situation. They tried to save Chloe without putting themselves, and her, into more danger, and it was just unfortunate that it didn't work out.

Mason, one of the Mai that was guarding Chloe that night, had seen the license plate on the car before. He had a general idea of where they could have taken her, and Jasmine thought that it would be a good idea to go check out the place. It may be a long shot, but what other leads do they have?

They were still waiting on a few more people, murmurs filling the air to avoid silence, when the crowd in the living room parted, revealing an image of a confused and slightly angry Valentina standing in the doorway with a suitcase.

"What in the world is going on here?" She spoke as she took in the crowd of Mai warriors, all prepared for battle as they stood there, dressed head to toe in black.

"Mom, you're home." Jasmine didn't know what to do. Oh, her mother would be so disappointed. She knew that Valentina would find some way to pin the blame on her.

"Yes, and waiting for explanations." Valentina crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow directed towards her daughter.

"Chloe's been kidnapped, we received words about twenty minutes ago, and Jasmine's been organizing a search and rescue party. We're almost on our way." Alek jumped in. He knew how scared Jasmine was of this confrontation and he was trying to save her. He felt that it was the least that he could do.

There was silence as Jasmine saw her mother become more and more angry and, fearing and anticipating that it was directed towards her, she braced herself for the wrath of the pride leader.

"She's the spitting image of her mother. Never have I seen a teenage girl take action so quickly and so maturely." It was James who spoke this time, the one who had somehow managed to squeeze his way into Alek and Jasmine's lives as somewhat of a father figure.

Valentina looked at James to see whether or not he was joking. All she saw was genuine pride emitting from James' eyes as he looked towards Jasmine. It was a look that, by now, Valentina was sure that was reflected in her own eyes.

Valentina made her way over to her daughter slowly, all eyes in the room on her. She saw her daughter gulp from her being nervous. She smiled at her daughter and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"I am so proud of you," she whispered. She felt Jasmine's shock as she returned the embrace. All too soon, the mother-daughter moment that they hadn't shared in years was over. "Who are we waiting on now?"

"Sean Morrisen is on his way, and, out of the Mai, that is it. But Amy, Chloe's friend, is also supposed to come, to hold down the fort and to be here if Chloe comes home. Once they arrive, we're going to a warehouse where Mason thinks he's seen the car Chloe was put into before."

Valentina beamed at her daughter, smiling with pride and receiving a smile of gratitude from her.

The door then burst open to reveal yet another tall and masculine Mai, followed by a distraught Amy. It was time for them to go.

As everyone was beginning to walk out, Alek quickly turned to Amy.

"If she comes, please, the first thing that you must do is call me. You can call Jasmine, but preferably me." Alek asked softly.

"Absolutely. And, when you find her, let me know _immediately_."

"I will, I promise." He was definitely planning on doing so. Usually his words like that were hollow, but he knew just how much Amy was panicking about this entire scenario. He shared the panic.

"Alright, be careful. We both know that you getting hurt would help no one, especially not Chloe."

"I know, I know. And, Amy, thank you so much for coming. I know that there's not much that you can do with this task, but you have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"No problem. Don't even bother thanking me. Now, go and find Chloe." Amy all but shoved Alek out of the door. With a final sympathetic smile, Alek sprinted off to catch up with the rest of the Mai.

Chloe woke up to a throbbing in the back of her head and on her cheek. Other than an uncomfortable position, she felt completely normal. That is, until she opened her eyes to find herself in an abandoned warehouse with only one spotlight on her. She realized that there was a rope tying her hands about her head, suspending her a few inches off of the ground. Every time she would even subtly move, she would begin to swing. At the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the room, she stopped struggling and her head snapped up. She glared at the figure in front of her.

Brian was slowly stepping out of the dark, wearing a smug smirk on his face, one that only Alek could possibly pull off.

"Hello, Chloe." Brian chuckled and began to walk around her, staring at her, plotting something in his mind. Probably how to kill her. How to make her suffer in the longest way possible.

Why hadn't she listened to Jasmine and Alek? Why was she such a stubborn idiot? All of this just because she wanted to make a point clear to Brian? Chloe again began to try and squirm her out of the bonds, even though she knew that it was a lost cause.

"There's no point in doing that, Ms. King." Another voice came from the same place Brian's had originated. Out of the shadows stepped out a man, one who wore the same exact smirk that rested on Brian's face.

"Who the hell are you?" Chloe cried. Shit, she was so screwed.

"My name, Chloe, is Whitley. Whitley Rezza. I'm Brian's father. Also, I'm the head of the Order on the western coast of the United States. It's a pleasure to meet you, Uniter. I'm sure you'd feel the same way under circumstances that aren't these, so I won't force you into say so." He began to circulate around Chloe just like his son.

Chloe's head would whip around, back and forth between Brian and Whitley Rezza.

"We have a fun program for you, Chloe," Brian smirked at her. "There is a bunch of men around this room who want to meet you." As if on cue, about twenty big and bulky men stepped out of the shadows, forming a circle around Chloe. "Well, more like hurt you than meet you."

"I'm in a generous mood today, Ms. King." Brian's father jumped in. "But, unfortunately, my generosity doesn't reach out to you. See, we at the Order would like for you to lose all of your remaining eight lives as slowly and painfully as you can. With your eighth life, we shall begin with each man around us coming up to you and hitting you. This ought to be fun, shouldn't it?"

"You know, by trying to kill me slowly, you're giving my friends more time to find you." Shit. Why in the world did she say that? She was practically telling the enemy to kill her sooner.

"Well, yes. But, first of all, they won't find you. And, even if they do, they probably will all die at the hands of my men first. And, don't worry. This life _will_ disappear slowly. And we've already thought of a few creative methods to get rid of your other ones." Whitley smirked at Chloe, approaching her and poking her, just to see her swing and squirm.

"Your men don't stand a chance against the Mai." Chloe growled. This earned her a great slap. The sound of Whitley's palm hitting Chloe's cheek echoed throughout the hollow warehouse, startling even some of the henchmen.

"I suggest, oh mighty Uniter, that when you are tied up by a rope and have no way to protect yourself, you don't insult me or my men." Whitley growled.

"Hey, Sam!" Brian yelled out to one of the men. Chloe's head whipped around towards him pleading with her eyes that he doesn't do this. She was hoping that maybe, just maybe, the guy that she knew actually existed. "You want to take a swing at her first?" Brian turned to Chloe to smirk at her, once again making her cringe at the sight of seeing Alek's trademark on this ass hole's face.

A man that presumably was Sam stepped forward and closer to her. As he approached Chloe with an evil glint in his eyes, Brian began to explain himself.

"You really thought I was falling in love with you, didn't you?" Brian laughed as Chloe felt a sharp pain as Sam quickly ran a knife down Chloe's right arm, breaking skin but drawing only a little bit of blood. It still stung like a bitch, though.

Chloe's lack of response was caused by her hissing from the pain, but Brian interpreted that as a "yes".

"Come on, Chloe. You couldn't have been _that_ naïve. I'm a college student, and you're a junior in high school. Relationships like that only exist in romantic comedies and in teen romance novels." Another hiss escaped Chloe's lips as another member of the order approached her and made three short but deep cut on Chloe's left arm.

"The Order had a feeling that you were the Uniter before you even knew about it. I was told to befriend you, to keep close contact, just in case you turned out to be it. Once Michael pushed you off of the tower and you survived… well, then I just had to reel you in even closer."

A few more men cut and punched Chloe, but she didn't make a noise until one of them created a huge gash on Chloe's left shin by grabbing a rock and pressing it as hard as he could to her skin, making it seem as if her leg had been dragged by a car for a few miles on the asphalt. This elicited a sudden and loud yelp from Chloe, who was trying so hard to show that these men weren't affecting her.

"So, I made you think that I was falling in love with you. Unfortunately, your stupid protector was getting in the way, but I knew that I could keep you in my grasp. Unfortunately, the situation spun a little bit out of control, but, in my defense, I was trying to play the role of the jealous boyfriend convincingly. But, hey, you fell for my trap and we still got you here. That's all that matters."

One by one, the rest of the men came up to Chloe and either cut her or hit her. None of them were soft on her, but nothing that she received was fatal. As each man finished his hit on her, they backed up to stand in front of Chloe. By the time all of the men had had their turn, Chloe counted sixteen men standing in front of her.

"Ah, Simone." Whitley spoke, turning around to face an approaching red headed woman in a white suit. "So nice of you to join us. We're about halfway through our plan."

"So," Simone spoke, "Which one of us will have the honor to kill off the Uniter this time?" The woman crossed her arms and smiled, approaching Chloe to observe her. "This is what the Mai are offering as the savior of their race? Whitley, I think that we will get the same results in the end, whether or not we let her live."

"Why don't we simply torture her a bit more. Then we can make up our mind concerning this girl's fate. Son, would you like to go first?"

"Gladly."

Chloe screamed in pain as she felt a knife run across her stomach. She could tell that the wound was deep, but wasn't deep enough to kill her. It was an open flesh wound, basically, and the fact that she was stretched out with her arms above her head made the wound stretch out further, eliciting more pain from the blonde. She tried to bend over to stop pulling the sides apart, but she didn't have the energy. She felt the bottom of her shirt and the top of her jeans grow warmer and wetter.

"Nice shot, son. Perfect angle and placement."

"Thanks, dad."

"I'll go now. I know how much you would like to deliver the last blow." Simone stepped forward. She pulled out a razor. It was obviously very sharp, as Chloe had observed when she caught it gleaming in the light for a moment.

Simone walked up to the dangling Uniter, smirking at her.

"It's a shame. Such a pretty face. But, all good things must come to an end."

Chloe tried her best to keep in her screams as Simone drew four clear, deep and slow cuts right about Chloe's eye. She knew that the redhead wanted to create a mark on her that resembled the cuts that the claws of the Mai make. Chloe finally let her scream out when Simone stepped back, allowing the pain to really kick in. Chloe saw a drop of blood fall right in front of her eye onto her cheek.

"And now, my long awaited turn."

Whitley slowly made his way towards Chloe. She could feel her heart pounding faster and faster with every step that he took. His smirk grew bigger and bigger and Chloe saw a large blade appear from behind his back.

He stepped towards her. With one final smirk he sliced his knife downwards, slashing Chloe's left thigh. He then swung in the opposite direction, creating an "X" on Chloe's thigh.

Chloe couldn't remember the last time she had felt so much pain. It hurt almost as much as it did when she first died. She was now completely and utterly sure that she was going to lose another life tonight.

"Now, even if you somehow manage to break free from your hold, you won't be able to go anywhere. It'll be too painful to run." Chloe knew that he was right. She could tell that even the slightest amount of pressure would cause her body to erupt in flames of pain once again. She was stuck here.

There was a movement in the shadows behind her. Chloe's heart began to race even more. She thought that more of the Order had come. More scratches and cuts. More punches. But this time it would be more painful, since she had been so weakened by the three major blows delivered from the three main Order members. She knew that these wounds weren't fatal, but, if she bled for too long, they could be. And if anyone elaborated on them, than they could be.

"What do you say to another round, boys?" Whitley Rezza turned around to face the men behind him. Most of their expressions were of excitement. Some even began to walk forward towards Chloe.

Suddenly, the figures that had been lurking in the shadows stepped forwards. To Chloe, some of these faces seemed very familiar. Some she knew like the back of her hand. Some she had never seen before, but knew that they were there for her. Relief began to slowly wash over her. Only a little bit, though.

"I don't think that that's ever going to happen." Chloe's head turned towards the voice at lightning speed. Once she saw who spoke, she wanted to scream to the heavens, thanking Bastet with all of her might.

The figure stood with a stance shoulder width apart, knuckles and jaw clenched from fury. He was ready to attack. She could tell that he was infuriated beyond belief, and, in all honesty, if she was in his shoes, she would be too. Chloe just couldn't stop staring at her savior.

Alek.

**Woot! Isn't this exciting! Alek has come to the rescue! Doesn't he always?**

**Anyways, I hoped you liked this chapter. I'm pretty sure that they next chapter is going to be quite lengthy, since I have quite a bit planned for that, but don't want to break it up into two chapters. So, brace yourself for it **

**Anyways, please review, and thanks for reading!**


	14. May I

**Hello, there reader!**

**So, this is the final chapter… There will be an epilogue, though, as the last chapter via publishing methods and stuff, so bear with me! **

**So, I just kind feel the need to apologize for the last chapter. I didn't want to make Chloe be hurt so much, but it'll play a role later on. Also, I'm sorry for leaving you all without Chloe and Alek fluff. But, I promise that you won't feel that you are lacking Chloe/Alek fluff after this chapter and the epilogue.**

**With this story coming to a close, I would just like to say thank you to each and every one of you that has reviewed. And thank you to anyone who has helped me with ideas and helped me make up my mind about some options. I really do appreciate it.**

**So, after this, I think I'm going to be sticking to one shots, since I might not have time to write an actual story and update all of the time. But I'll try to write as often as I can!**

**This chapter is named after a song that I think fits perfectly, maybe not lyrics-wise, but definitely music wise, with this chapter (specifically the second scene ;) !) It's called "May I" by Trading Yesterday. You'll totally get what I'm talking about. At least, I hope you do.**

**Anyways, without further ado, here is chapter 14.**

Alek stepped out into the light. His glare was alternating between Whitley, Brian and Simone. His fists were clenched, knuckles white. He was ready to pounce.

Whitley turned around to smirk at the teenage Mai boy.

"Really, boy? You came here alone and think that you can actually take on all of my men by yourself? Brilliant! I could always use some entertainment!" Whitley began laughing maniacally, but his laugh ended abruptly at what he was beginning to see.

Exiting the shadows in the formation of a semicircle, Whitley began to notice the men clad in all black that were approaching his men. He counted twelve, but he was aware of what each Mai man was capable of. While the Order outnumbered them, he knew that that Mai had a legitimate chance of winning this battle if it came down to that. Which it probably will.

"He's not alone. And trust me, after tonight, you won't be so amused." Jasmine spoke with pure anger. No one takes away the savior of her race and, more importantly, no one takes away and threatens the life of her best friend.

Battle ensued the moment the words left Jasmine's lip as she blocked an attack from some man in the Order who swung a knife towards the back of her head.

It was Mai versus human almost everywhere in the room. Some Mai were even taking on two humans. When comparing a Mai man to an Order man, they looked exactly the same. The both looked equally strong and equally athletic. However, we all know that Mai are much stronger, faster, and are more reflexive than humans. Not to mention the fact that they have claws. While the Order may have been outnumbering the enemy, they were clearly outmatched.

The only Mai that wasn't paying attention to the battle surrounding him was Alek. He had seen Chloe through a window in the warehouse and texted Amy and Paul, informing them that they could head home since there was no use waiting around for Chloe. He then heard her scream at the top of her lungs from pain. Without even thinking about it, the words slipped from his mouth that he was heading straight for Chloe once they entered the building. Jasmine simply nodded in response and in understanding.

Alek tried to make his way across the room to Chloe as quickly but as safely as he possibly could. There would be members of the Order that would stumble towards him, attempting to take him out. But Alek was so set on getting Chloe to safety that his adrenaline was able to make him defeat each member that swung at him in a matter of seconds, sending them back weakened into a battle with a stronger Mai.

Brian began to panic as he saw the murderous rage in Alek's eyes, even from across the room. He needed to something and do it quickly. Anything.

"You know, you shouldn't even bother getting your hopes up, King." Brian spoke into her ear, making Chloe shudder from his hot breath, but not in a pleasant way.

"And why the hell not?" Chloe was physically weakened and could feel herself slowly slipping away, but she needed to show that she still had some strength left in her.

"Because your Mai men don't stand a chance. We've got knives and guns and martial arts on our side. And what do you have? Claws? The capability to dodge one blow at a time?" Brian smirked at Chloe, but even he was beginning to doubt his words. He glanced around quickly and noticed that the upper hand in the majority of the battles in the room belonged to the Mai.

"That's a load of bull shit and you know it." Chloe felt a sharp pain on her face as Brian's hand made contact with her face, sending her to look the other way. She couldn't understand why, but this was the blow that had finally weakened her not only physically again, but mentally as well. She now realized that she was looking up at Brian as he smirked down on her, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

Alek saw Brian slap Chloe and that was the final straw. Screw being sneaky and screw him not getting hurt. He knew that he would only get a scratch or two during sprint to Chloe, but that was all that mattered. Chloe.

"You touch her one more time and I promise to make you regret the day that you were born." Alek growled at Brian. Little did he know that he was provoking him.

"Oh, you mean like _this_?" Brian asked, feigning cluelessness as he poked Chloe on the side, right where the gash across her stomach began. Chloe threw her head back, yelling in pain.

Hearing his love scream like that sent Alek over the edge. He lunged onto Brian, knocking him down on the ground. Alek's eye had turned into slits and his nails had turned into claws.

"Now, how shall you die?" Alek's voice was so menacing and so terrifying that even Chloe, who could feel herself drifting off, was brought back to reality shuddering with fear. "Shall I make you suffer for a while just like you made my Chloe suffer? Or should I just kill you in a second, slitting out your throat. Maybe I'll even give you play by play of your death and then get it over with. Which shall it be?"

"Just kill him already and get Chloe out of here!" Jasmine cried from the side as she punched one Order member in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and turned to kick another member that was creeping up behind her.

"Gladly."

Brian's eyes went wide from hearing his words being repeated to him as Alek draw back his hand. It then came crashing down, claws gleaming in the light from above. Alek slit Brian's throat and stood up, allowing for Brian to bleed to death, although considering the fact that Alek slit the internal jugular it wouldn't take too long. There was blood already covering the entire floor on Brian's right side.

Alek smirked slightly, proud of his work, before turning his attention to Chloe. He grabbed hold of her hips and pulled up a little bit, relieving the strain on her arms and shoulders.

"Chloe, please, just hold on one second. I'm going to get you out of here." Chloe heard Alek's voice distinctly. She had suddenly found a new surge of energy. Not enough to make her strong, but enough to be able to keep her eyes open.

Alek stood on the balls of his feet, stretching upwards to untie the knot and take Chloe out of this pain. It was a tight knot and it was taking him a while. He kept whispering words of reassurance into Chloe's ears, telling her that it's all okay and that she was safe now. They both knew that they weren't entirely in the clear, but Chloe had a feeling that, with the rage and determination rushing through Alek's body, they were going to get out of there safely.

Finally, after what seemed to be taking forever, Alek had freed Chloe of her bonds. Because Alek was so close to Chloe and because there was only thin air under her feet, Chloe fell straight in Alek's arm. Of course, he caught and wrapped his arms around Chloe as tightly as he could, burying his face into Chloe's neck and hair as he tried to push back the urge to cry tears of joy.

Chloe felt pain shoot through her body as Alek pressed her against himself, but she chose to ignore it since the relief of being in Alek's arms again after such a long and painful night began to numb the pain. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and she buried her face into his neck, just like he was doing. Silent tears began to escape Chloe's eyes. She couldn't remember the last time that she had ever felt so safe as she did in that moment in her love's arms.

"Thank Bastet you came." She whispered into his skin. "I've never been so happy to see you."

"I'm so glad you're safe." Alek whispered back. It felt so good to hold her in his arms again. He never wanted to let go.

Quite soon, the demand to get out of the warehouse became their first priority. They could hold each other and whisper sweet nothings to each other later. Alek lifted his head and caught the eye of Valentina, who signaled for him to get himself and Chloe out immediately and that they could take care of the members of the Order that were still alive.

Alek let Chloe slowly slip onto the ground, allowing her feet to begin to touch the ground. Alek wanted to make sure that Chloe could walk before they proceeded out of here. They did have to run, after all.

Chloe slowly began to put pressure on her left leg, being very aware of the fact that her thigh might not take it. Maybe she had begun to heal in the last few minutes which might allow her to walk, but something in the back of her mind told her that she was just fooling herself. The moment she put just a little bit more pressure on her left leg, she collapsed.

To Alek, it was all happening in slow motion. One moment Chloe was safely in his arms and the next she was tumbling down back to the ground. Alek couldn't have reacted faster, the terror of Chloe being hurt even more doing all of the thinking for him. Chloe's grip on Alek's shoulder tightened in an attempt to hold herself up, but she still would have hit the ground had it not been for Alek's hands that shot to her waist.

"Chloe! What…" Alek began.

"My thigh," Chloe whimpered. Alek could feel his heart tightening at the sound of Chloe's weak voice. He looked down at Chloe's thigh and his eyes widened once he caught sight of the "X" shaped cut in her jeans and her skin and all of the blood that had seeped onto the cloth and down her leg. There was just so much blood.

Alek began to cautiously move with Chloe's body. His hand and arm moved up Chloe's back slowly, looking into Chloe's eyes to make sure that he wasn't causing any pain by skimming over a cut.

"Wrap your arms around my neck tightly." Alek lowered himself, forcing Chloe to bend her knees a little bit and hiss in unexpected pain because of a cut on the back of her right knee. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. Just please get me out of here," Chloe pleaded. Her voice was just so feeble and it sounded like Chloe was in so much pain that Alek didn't think that he could take much more of this.

"There's a cut behind your knee, but I have to put my arm there to carry you. This will probably hurt. I am so terribly sorry." Alek couldn't barely face the fact that he was about to cause Chloe pain. Not much compared to what she had to endure throughout the evening, but still, he never wanted to hurt her.

Chloe winced once Alek wrapped his arms around her knees, but she bit her lip as to not make a noise from pain. She could tell from Alek's facial expressions that it hurt him to see her hurt. Although Chloe was perfectly aware of the fact that now was not the time to be all fluffy, she couldn't help but think how adorably and incredibly sweet he is.

Alek started to carry Chloe out of the warehouse. He made his way to the side and the Mai that were fighting towards the wall made sure that the two of them had a safe path out of the building. As Alek quickly walked himself and Chloe out, she caught glimpses of what was going on around her.

Jasmine was fighting one member and had just knocked him down. She was taking in one moment of victory, but in that moment another member of the Order tried to sneak up on her from behind. It was too late from Jasmine to react and Chloe went into to panic mode for a moment, but relaxed once she saw Eric, Jasmine's boyfriend, slit open the man's throat, saving Jasmine's life. The expression of panic on her face disappeared as she quickly hugged Eric as a "thank you" before helping him kill yet another member.

The cold night air finally hit them after what seemed like forever. It looked like no one had followed them, which was a good thing, making Alek feel quite relieved.

"We're heading over to your house, alright?" Alek looked at Chloe and panicked when he noticed that she was starting to drift away.

"Okay." She mumbled in response.

"Chloe, I know you've lost a lot of blood, but please stay awake. I wouldn't know how to explain everything if I have to take you to a hospital, and the healing process goes by much more quickly if you stay awake. Please, Chloe. Don't fall asleep. Just until I get you wrapped up. Please, Chloe. Stay awake."

"I'll try." Chloe attempted to straighten herself up in Alek's arms with the little strength that she had, but, unfortunately, that meant moving her stomach and her arms, all of which hurt like hell, eliciting a hiss from the blonde girl.

"Don't try and move. We'll be there as soon as we can be. I promise you, you're safe." And with that, Alek took off on a run. He tried to go as quickly as possible but he knew that if he moved too fast, Chloe might be shaken too much and another cut might be opened.

He tried to talk to her throughout the run, just to make sure that she was still awake. He would ask some random question, like what day it was or what's the date of her birthday. He would get the shortest response possible, but at least he knew that she was awake. He would worry about how drained and weak she was when they got home.

Eventually, Alek made it to Chloe's house. He pushed the door open and walked into the kitchen. He set Chloe on the countertop on the island, quickly shot a text to Jasmine saying that he got Chloe home safe and sound, and then told Chloe to lie down slowly. Once she was on her back she hissed from the pain of the bruises that were forming on her back.

"I know it hurts, Chloe, I know. But just bear with me for a while. I promise that I will do everything that I can to make the pain go away." He received a hummed "yes" in response and ran to the bathroom in search of a first aid kit.

Conveniently, Meredith had restocked it right before she left for her first business trip just in case Chloe got hurt twenty times a day, and thankfully she hadn't, so there was enough gauze and rubbing alcohol to clean Chloe out.

Alek came back and saw Chloe lying on the counter with her eyes closed. In panic, he ran up to her.

"Chloe! Chloe! Don't fall asleep! Please wake up!" Alek was about to shake Chloe gently as a last resort before her eyes fluttered open.

"Relax, Alek. I just closed my eyes for a moment. I just really tired, that's all." She smiled at him weakly in a vain attempt to show him that she was okay.

"Just try and stay awake for a little while longer. At least until I wrap you up." Alek pleaded. Chloe smiled at him in response. "Alright, love. Thank you. Now, I'm warning you, I need to clean out all of your wounds, but that means it's going to sting quite a bit. No match to what you've endured today, but it's like the disgusting icing for a vile cake." Chloe nodded, giving Alek permission to proceed.

He started with her biggest wounds. First, he lifted up Chloe's shirt, cringing as the gash across her stomach was revealed. It had already managed to heal just a little bit, since Chloe wasn't in pain as she breathed and her stomach rose and fell. It hadn't healed by much, but it was enough to avoid stitches.

Alek dabbed some cotton with the rubbing alcohol and began to clean the wound. He started to clean the blood off around the edges and down her stomach. He was trying to put off hurting her again for as long as possible. But, when he saw Chloe digging her nails into her palm in anticipation, he realized that this was one of those situations where he just needed to rip the band aid.

"This is going to hurt." Alek warned as he put a new and clean piece of cotton onto the gash.

Chloe bit her lip to try and stop herself from screaming from pain. It resulted in a whimper, which was better than Chloe had expected, but she still saw the pain of seeing her in pain flash across Alek's face. His turned towards her but she just gave him a look that said "I'm fine, just keep going".

Alek once again dabbed on the wound and then he lowered his head and began to blow wherever he cleaned, just like Chloe did when he got hurt. This seemed to help a little bit, as Chloe seemed to need to use less energy in preventing herself from squirming.

Alek hated seeing Chloe in pain but, even more than that, he hated seeing Chloe trying to restrain the pain. But he needed to stop paying attention to that and finish the task in front of him.

Alek lifted Chloe's back off of the counter and wrapped the gauze around her torso, adding disinfecting cream on top of the gash. Now that the stomach was taken care of, he turned his attention to her thigh.

He had to get these jeans off of her and the least painful way seemed to simply take them off. He placed his hands on the button of her jeans and looked up at Chloe to receive a green light. She nodded in response, understanding his reasons and tried to help Alek by shimmying out of the pants. She couldn't really move that much but, even though she lacked the energy, she couldn't stand just lying around like a dead fish.

Alek repeated the same process on Chloe's thigh as he did on her stomach. Dab and blow, dab and blow. Soon, her thigh was patched up as well and Alek began focusing on her other scratches.

As he observed the rest of Chloe's cuts, he was relieved that none of them were as bad as the first two that he had cleaned. Not even the gash on the stomach and the "X" on the thigh would leave scars, so Alek was happy that there would be no reminders of this horrible night once she heals.

Alek was soon finished taking care of Chloe's entire body except for her face. All that was left was the bruises all over her body that Alek couldn't do anything about and the four cuts that Simone made on Chloe's head.

Alek helped Chloe slowly move up into a sitting position. Chloe was fighting so hard to stay awake that she barely had any energy to move any other part of her body. But Alek was more than willing to help. All he wanted was for Chloe to be herself again, and not this dependent and drained and hurt girl that was in front of him at the moment. He hated himself for letting her get to this point.

Alek began to dab and blow on Chloe's eyebrow and four head. The air grew a bit more awkward now that they were face to face. Both were regretting saying the things that they had said in the morning. They both felt guilty for getting themselves into this situation.

Alek was angry at himself for not physically restraining Chloe from leaving the house. How could he have let her just slip through his fingers so easily?

Chloe was angry for not listening to Alek. And to Jasmine. She blamed it on her stupid instinct to look for the good in people before becoming apprehensive about their character. Stupid, stupid girl. She knew that Alek was beating himself up about it inside, and she couldn't help but hate herself even more.

Soon, Alek was done tending to Chloe completely. He put the cap on the rubbing alcohol and went to throw out all of the trash that had accumulated and to put away the first aid kid. Chloe was still sitting on the counter. It wasn't like she could really move anywhere, with the amount of gauze that made her look like a mummy. The pain was probably a factor as well, as was the lack of energy.

Alek slowly walked up to Chloe. He couldn't believe that she had gotten so close to losing another life. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if she had. He couldn't even begin to imagine what they would have done to Chloe if they wanted to get rid of her other lives.

As Alek approached her, his phone went off. He quickly picked it up and read the text message that had arrived.

"Jasmine says that they managed to kill every member of the Order that was in the room."

"How many Mai died?" Alek looked at her in slight shock. She got tortured by the people in the room to the point where even Alek would be surprised if she could walk without pain in the next twenty four hours and her main concern was how many Mai died for her, like they would have done in honor of her, the Uniter?

"None, luckily." Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.

That was the breaking point. Alek couldn't hold himself in any longer. He rushed even closer towards Chloe and, wrapping his arms around her shoulder and digging his fingers into her hair, he pulled her into his chest. He buried his face into her hair and felt the first real tears since his parents had died slip past his water line.

"Thank Bastet that you're okay. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't." Chloe could hear his voice break a little bit, making her heart tighten as she wrapped her arms around Alek's waist, burying her head deeper into his chest.

"I'm okay now, Alek. I promise. I'm okay." She could feel herself on the edge of tears as well.

"Don't ever do that to me again, Chloe King." She had no idea how scared out of his mind Alek was when he heard Mark tell Jasmine that Chloe had been taken. His heart stopped beating all together for at least thirty seconds. He was ready to give up, to go sulk in his room for the rest of his life before he snapped out of it.

"I am so sorry for not listening to you and for being stubborn and for being an idiot. I am so sorry, so sorry." Chloe sobbed softly.

She felt the warm embrace of Alek's chest leave her face as she looked up at Alek. He had two distinct tear tracks on his face, something that she was sure she had on her face as well.

"Don't you dare apologize for that. Please, don't even think about it. Neither of us knew that it was going to be a trap."

"But you said…"

"I know what I said, Chloe. But, to be honest, even though I claimed to not be, I actually said that out of jealousy."

"Then why didn't you say so?"

"Because I thought that you would laugh at me."

"Alek, I am so, incredibly sorry. I can't even begin to tell you how horrible…"

"Chloe, as long as you're safe, everything is okay." Alek could no longer stand to hear Chloe apologize. What was done was done, and the only thing that mattered was that they were both okay and that the night had ended.

Alek held Chloe's shoulders, as if he had been trying to shake her body to get some sense into her. They stayed still for a moment, looking into each other's eyes. Slowly, too slowly for Chloe's liking, Alek began to lean his head down towards her lips. His lips were mere millimeters away from Chloe's and he looked into her eyes, to make sure that she was okay with this. They both knew that this kiss meant the most out of all of the ones they had shared. If they proceeded with this kiss, then they would be all good. They would forget about the fight this morning and their relationship would be stronger than ever. No one and nothing would be able to pry them apart. Only a final death could and neither of them was planning on letting that happen any time soon.

Chloe didn't bother wasting time giving Alek an answer and simply leaned her head a tad upwards and caught Alek's lips with hers.

The kiss suddenly gave Chloe energy she didn't think that she could ever muster. But the relief that she felt when she felt Alek's lips on her regenerated her in a second. Sure, they had kissed twenty four hours ago, but the day seemed to have been so long, equivalent of week. And this kiss meant so much to both of them. Chloe wouldn't be able to explain what this kiss felt like to Amy. She would be at a loss for words when trying to describe how wonderful it felt to be kissing Alek again.

Alek ran his hands gently down Chloe's sides, from her shoulders to her hips, being wary of the cuts that Chloe had. His tenderness made Chloe want to simply melt into his arms and stay molded to him for the rest of her life. There was no lust, just pure and magnificent love.

Their kiss was filled with passion, but not the kind of passion that made them want to jump onto each other and rip the other's shirt off. The kind of passion that made them never want to leave each other's hold. The kind that made them wish that they didn't need oxygen so that they didn't have to break their kiss, not even for a second.

Chloe let her arms tighten around Alek's neck pulling him closer to her. There was so much love in the kiss that both of them thought that their hearts were about to jump out of their chests or explode from an overdose.

Alek took one hand and tucked Chloe's hair behind her ear before slipping his fingers back in between her golden locks. God, how did he survive such a long day without these kisses? How in the world did he manage to survive an entire day without the sight of the angel in front of him? How did he ever let Chloe slip through his fingers, even just a little bit?

Oxygen was eventually necessary. They pulled apart but leaned against each other's foreheads.

"I promise to never walk out on you again, Chloe." Those words meant so much more than one would think. It was like an unspoken promise that for the rest of her lives, and for as long as he possibly can, he will stand by her side, through thick and thin, no matter what happens.

"I love you, Alek. So much, you have no idea." Alek captured Chloe's lips in his for a second before responding.

"I love you so much. More than you can possibly ever imagine." Another kiss.

"I never want to be without you, Alek." Another kiss.

"I never can be without you, Chloe." Another kiss.

This continued for a while. They would kiss with so much love that they could swear that they had died and gone to heaven. When their lungs would demand that they pull away for air, they would lean their foreheads against each other's and whisper sweet words which would usually be considered as "sweet nothings", but meant the world to them tonight.

They didn't know for how long they had been kissing there, but Chloe could suddenly feel the energy that raced through her veins turning into a soft buzz of pure happiness. She had never felt so happy before. She didn't want this feeling to end but, after tonight, she had a feeling that, whenever she was with Alek, she would have this feeling again. She was growing tired again. Not weak like she was earlier, but energy was just leaving her body once again.

In one of the moments that the two lovebirds were leaning their heads against the other, Chloe turned her head to the side to let out a yawn.

Alek let out a chuckle. He couldn't believe how beautiful Chloe was. She was exactly like a kitten. She was incredibly strong when she needed to be, playful when she wanted to be, and heart breaking-ly adorable at all times. Chloe even made a noise like a yawning kitten when she yawned.

"Come on, love. Time for bed." Alek was about to pick Chloe up and take her upstairs when she started shaking her head.

"No, not yet. I don't want this moment to end." Her confession was so honest that Alek needed to lean down to place yet another kiss on those soft lips of hers.

"How about we go to the couch and pop in a movie. You'll fall asleep soon. I know you're tired, love." Chloe knew that Alek was right and she just nodded, feeling the energy continue to leave her body.

Alek locked his arms around her as he carried her to the couch bridal style. He set Chloe down on the couch and went to choose a movie. He chose a simple movie, a romantic comedy, as they both knew that action films weren't good for right now. Once again, Alek's thoughtfulness made her head want to turn into a puddle.

Once Alek returned to the couch and pressed play, he lay down, stretching across the entire couch and pulling down Chloe to lie on top of him. He had taken off his sweater and shoes at some point that he couldn't remember and was left in black cargo pants and a wife beater. Chloe had been stripped of her jacket and scarf and shirt and was left in a tank top and her underwear. Neither cared that, if her mother walked in at the moment, she would assume the wrong thing. She wouldn't since she was away, but still. All that mattered was the Chloe was in Alek's arms and that she would forever and always be safe with her protector by her side.

Chloe rested her head on Alek's chest. He draped a blanket on top of both of them and wrapped his arms around Chloe.

Chloe tried to stay awake. She battled with her eyelids, trying so hard to keep from sleeping. She loved this feeling of being with Alek that she wasn't ready to let that go of that yet. She needed to revel in this feeling. She finally felt at home.

Ever since this Mai business started, she couldn't figure out where she belonged, but she now knew that she would feel complete whenever she was in Alek's arms.

Between her sense of being home and Alek's arms wrapped around her and his warm body pressed to hers and the soft blanket covering them both, keeping them both safe, Chloe lost her battle with her eyelids and she closed her eyes, drifting into a sweet sleep within the first five minutes of the movie.

The next morning was quite a lazy one. Alek had inspected Chloe's cut and bruises and most of them had healed and faded into a barely noticeable shade of yellow. Nothing that a shirt and a pair of jeans couldn't hide.

The two had decided that they should meet up with the rest of their gang. After such an intense night as the one before, they all needed something normal. So, homework at the coffee shop at noon it was.

Chloe and Alek left the house with their backpacks and made their way to the coffee shop, fingers interwoven. It seemed as if no one could physically, let alone emotionally, break them apart.

They entered the coffee shop and Amy instantly spotted them. She left her seat and ran up to Chloe, smothering her in a hug.

Chloe winced a little bit, making Alek's facial expression change from the goofy smile that he was wearing since he fell asleep last night after watching Chloe dream for an hour or two to an expression of worry and panic that his love was hurt. Amy pulled back and you could tell that she was about to go on one of her apologizing rants.

"I'm fine. Just a little bit sore, but it's all good." Chloe assured the both of them.

"How are you feeling?" Amy asked as she led Chloe and Alek to their table. Paul was sitting right next to Amy and Jasmine was leaning back against Eric. They all smiled at Chloe and Alek as they took a seat, Chloe on Alek's right side. He draped his arm over the back of her chair.

"I'm fine really. So much better than last night." Chloe smiled.

"Alek did a pretty good job taking care of you. Maybe we should take him off of Uniter duty and send him to medical school." Jasmine said, smiling at her own joke and enjoying hearing her boyfriend chuckle as well.

"Don't even joke about that." Alek spoke to Jasmine in a joking tone, but everyone could tell that there was a serious undertone.

"Alright, so, let's get our dosage of normality on and hit the books. Honestly, I am looking forward to homework after last night." With that, everyone pulled out their books and began to work.

Alek was a lefty, so his right hand rested right next Chloe's still left hand, since she was a righty. Their pinkies were overlapping, a mild form of holding hands. Their chairs were pushed very closely together and Chloe easily leaned on Alek as she concentrated on her math homework. This, of course, didn't escape the eye of a certain female best friend.

"Aw, you guys…" Amy smiled. Chloe's head shot up to see what was making Amy interrupt her focus. Alek looked at the black haired girl and raised an eyebrow. "Aw, you two are just so adorable."

Chloe felt her cheeks begin to burn up. She buried her head into Alek's chest, facing away from Amy as to attempt to avoid her squealing friend.

However, Chloe's using Alek as a cover to protect herself from the words describing how sweet and adorable they were together actually made Amy squeal even more. She heard Alek chuckle at her reaction and felt the vibrations from his neck on the top of her head.

How she loved that boy. He seemed to make every situation with him a memorable one. Everything he did made Chloe's heart race. She hung onto every word that he said. And every kiss… Chloe knew that she would never ever be able to forget them, not even when she was eighty years old. She would always cherish every second with him.

Alek looked down at his blushing angel. He still couldn't get over the fact that she was his and only his. He didn't have to share her with anybody and whenever he heard someone saying how hot she was or what they would do to her, he now, unlike for the past two years, had the right to say "Hey! That's my girl you're talking about!".

They were together and everything was perfect.

"I think that we should focus on homework," Chloe spoke, trying to get out of this situation. "If it makes you feel any better, Amy, we can have another girl's night next weekend. You can squeal even more then!" Amy clapped from the amount of giddiness.

"I better be invited, too." Jasmine smirked. "I have quite a few stories about Alek that might come in handy later in your relationship." The entire table burst with laughter. Except for Alek, of course, who was too busy staring at Jasmine with a horrified expression on his face.

Chloe turned to see Alek's expression and felt a twinge of guilt, but then remembered that this was all a joke. And Alek looked just too damn cute in that light and from her angle that she couldn't help but smile. She leaned up and pressed a kiss to Alek's lips to wipe the expression of terror off of his face.

"Don't worry, I won't take advantage of my knowledge _too_ much." And with that, everyone settled down and returned to their homework.

Within the next few minutes, Alek hooked his pinky tighter to Chloe's and pulled their hands under the table. Resting them on his thigh, he kissed the top of his girlfriend's head as he intertwined their fingers, an eternal hold forming.

Their hands stayed like that for almost the entire day, both of them taking notice later on at just how natural it was for them to do so.

**And the story is over! **

**There is an epilogue to this, don't worry. But it's one of those epilogues that can stand as a one shot. It will be published with this story, though. But I'm sure you'll like it. It should be coming in the next few days.**

**Anyways, thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing. I appreciate every single idea that has helped me, every single person who helped me chose between option and every single one of your reviews that made me smile whenever I would receive an alert for them in my inbox.**

**THANK YOU. I LOVE YOU.**

**Oh, and, please review **


	15. Epilogue

***Sigh* The epilogue is finally here.**

**Which unfortunately means that this story has officially come to a close.**

**But, before it does, I would like to thank each and every one of you for sticking with this story, even when the chapters were not very Chalek-y. All of your amazing reviews kept me going and I couldn't be any more grateful for them than I am now.**

**I will continue to write, but I can't promise a multi chapter fanfiction anytime soon. Although maybe I'll try, we'll see. For now, I'm sticking to one shots. I have a bunch of ideas in store, so watch out for those.**

**Anyways, thank you for reading and reviewing and making this story your favorite and me as a favorite author. I can't thank you enough.**

**Without further ado, I present to you the epilogue.**

"Darling, have you seen my cuff links?" Alek was rummaging through all of his drawers, calling out to his fiancé in hope that she would be more organized than him. Which usually was the case.

"Which ones?" Chloe called out from their master bathroom. "The diamond ones or the silver ones?"

"Good question. That actually depends. Are you wearing diamond jewelry or silver jewelry?" Alek asked.

"I was planning on wearing diamonds." Chloe responded.

"In that case, do you know where my diamond cuff links are?"

Even after eight years, Chloe was still taken aback by Alek whenever he would say such considerate words and think of things like matching. Sometimes, he was more aware of that than she was, even though it was the girl that was supposed to fret over the horrors of mismatching. She just couldn't get used to how thoughtful he was, and she didn't think that she ever would. Not that she was complaining.

"They should be in the bottom drawer. Under your blue boxers." Right! Of course, how could he forget? He hid those there on purpose, just in case. They were his favorite after all. Chloe gave them to him on his twenty first birthday.

"What would I do without you, love?" Alek chuckled. But he honestly didn't have a clue. That one day eight years ago, he almost went insane.

"Let's not find out, shall we?" Chloe chuckled back. Her voice and laughter echoed from the bathroom and Alek couldn't remember the last time he'd heard a sweeter sound.

A few more minutes went by. Alek struggled a little bit with his cuff links, having not worn them for a while, as Chloe was putting the finishing touches on her make-up and hair in bathroom.

"Alright, love. I'm ready." Alek did one final look over in the mirror to make sure that he looked to his best, not a single molecule out of place before leaning against the dresser to wait for Chloe.

"Hold on just one moment. These shoes are such a hassle to fasten." Chloe said. Alek began tapping his foot anxiously, waiting for his fiancé to exit the bathroom.

Chloe and Alek were headed off to a gala/ banquet at a posh hotel in the nicer regions of San Francisco. About a year ago, Chloe has managed to unite humans and Mai and this party was being held in honor of the one year anniversary.

Chloe's mother eventually found out about the Mai. Most of it was explained to her by Valentina, which resulted in a sudden and very close relationship.

Alek had proposed to Chloe fairly quickly after Chloe lived up to her title as the Uniter. Their wedding was in two weeks and Alek was counting down the hours until he could say "I do".

Alek and Chloe weren't the only ones who had happy endings. Amy and Paul got married about a month ago and they only came back a few days ago from their honeymoon, which consisted of island hopping in Greece. The romantic scene of their wedding caused Eric to propose to Jasmine, although he'd been working up the nerve to ask her to marry him for almost a year.

Chloe and Alek had moved into an apartment three floors above Valentina's loft. Although it wasn't hers anymore. Jasmine and Eric had moved in there to live together, and alone, leaving Valentina to find a new home. It was her idea, however. And she happily found another home with Meredith, surprisingly, who wasn't yet ready to live in an empty house and welcomed her new best friend with the widest arms possible. They felt like they were in college again.

Amy and Paul had moved into a small townhouse about four blocks away from the rest of the gang's apartment building. They had grown very close over the years. Alek and Paul actually shared inside jokes and Paul became Alek's first true friend. After he got all of his Mai questions answered by a more patient Jasmine, that is.

All was good with the world and Alek couldn't have been any happier. He was surrounded by the most amazing people he had ever met. His future mother-in-law didn't hate his guts, which was his biggest fear, although that was taken care of eight years ago. He was seeing his aunt relax a bit and smile more, and he had friends that he wouldn't trade for anything in the world. And, most importantly, he was soon going to be married to the most beautiful, amazing and … perfect woman that he had ever met. Provided, she wasn't perfect, but she couldn't have been more perfect for him.

Alek was brought out of his musings by the sight of said amazing woman walking out of the bathroom. He could feel his jaw drop to the floor.

Chloe wasn't just walking out of the bathroom. She seemed to be drifting or floating out of there. She was wearing a black gown that fell all the way down to the floor. It was strapless and had a black and sparkly belt right under her chest. But, from under that, the fabric of the gown flowed downwards gently. As Chloe walked, the fabric followed her in a very drifting manner. He could see her legs outlined in the dress every time she stepped forward. Her feet were clad in silver heels that made her legs look like they ran on for miles, even though they were covered. Resting in her inner elbows and wrapping around her back lay a piece of thin black fabric, making Chloe seem even more elegant and fragile than Alek had ever seen her be.

Chloe had straightened her hair, making a few strands float behind her as if a gentle wind was pushing her back. She was wearing light make up, like she always did, just like Alek liked it, masking none of her true beauty behind a layer of cosmetics. She wore a thin silver strand around her neck, on which rested a small diamond in the shape of a tear drop. She had put on thin diamond strands for earrings that hung down about three inches.

She was breath taking.

"Alek?" Chloe said with concern. "Is everything alright?" She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulders, shaking him out of his trance.

"You look so beautiful, darling." Alek whispered. Chloe loved it when Alek called her "darling". It just sounded so perfect and right coming from him when directed at her. And it was only ever directed at her. Not once had Chloe heard Alek call anyone besides her "darling" or "love" or "sweetheart". It made her feel so special.

Chloe felt her heart flutter, blushing not just because she still wasn't used to his compliments, even after eight years, but also because she was pretty sure, judging by his growing smile, that he heard her heart beat falter a bit.

"You look quite dashing yourself, Mr. Petrov." Chloe took hold off the flaps on Alek's tuxedo jacket and pulled herself a bit closer to him.

"Why, thank you, Ms. King." Alek replied, placing his hands on Chloe's hips, pulling her completely flush against his body.

"Not for long," Chloe whispered as she final reached upwards to kiss her fiancé on the lips.

She still couldn't get used to that. Alek was her _fiancé_. She was going to _marry_ him. She was going to spend the rest of her life with him. It really shouldn't be that much of a surprise to her. He was all but glued to her side throughout high school and college and the whole affair of uniting different races. She had to have seen this coming at some point in her life, but she still couldn't wrap her mind around it.

She kept on expecting to wake up in the morning from this dream and find herself back in her old bedroom as a sixteen year old and the ordeal of uniting races still in front of her. But, of course, and thankfully, that wasn't the case. Instead, she woke up each morning in such a peaceful mood and in the strong and safe arms of the most wonderful man that has ever walked the planet. Her biggest unanswered question nowadays was where Alek was taking her for their honeymoon, since he insisted on keeping that a surprise.

From their soft and delicate kiss, Chloe pulled back and settled back down but remained in close proximity to Alek's body. She wore a grin on her face equivalent to that of a little girl when she gets a new stuffed animal for her birthday. Alek, on the other hand, chuckled.

"You're wearing heels and yet you still have to reach upwards to kiss me." Alek smiled down at his angel.

"Hey, that's not very nice!" That earned yet another chuckle from the British blonde.

"I'm not saying that as a bad thing! Our heights together are perfect for dancing and cuddling and…" Chloe burst out laughing, throwing her head back at Alek's attempts to seem not guilty.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, darling," Chloe said. She loved calling Alek "darling" just as much as she loved hearing him call her that.

"Come on, dear." More pet names… "We need to get going, or else we'll be late." With that, Alek placed his hand on Chloe's lower back and began to lead her out of the apartment and to the gala.

They arrived just in time, being greeted by various Mai pride leaders and even some human officials. Chloe turned on her business mode as she made her rounds of protocol, greeting each man or woman of importance, engaging in small talk for a moment, and then proceeding to the next person. Alek remained with her at all times.

One might think that a man like Alek, the cocky bastard that we have all learned to know and love, would not be okay with having his woman be more important or more powerful than him. He would want to be the one that has greater importance, following the social protocol of years and years of history where the woman would stay at home while the man worked.

But Alek wasn't envious of Chloe's authoritative position in their world. His manhood wasn't threatened by the fact that he held a position in the human world as a lawyer to San Francisco's most highly esteemed law firm and that it was Chloe who was practically the number one Mai in the world. Instead, he gazed at his Chloe with pride and adoration, wondering how in the world he got so lucky and what in the world had he done to deserve her.

Alek still couldn't believe that he could call Chloe "his". Even after eight years, he was still surprised every day when Chloe uttered the words "I love you" instead of "I'm leaving you". Not that he ever wanted her to leave him. Dear goodness, he'd probably sulk for years if that ever happened. But there was something in the pit of his stomach and in the back of his head and in the depths of his heart that told him that Chloe had no plans of leaving him and that he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Finally, Chloe had finished making her rounds and the banquet was just about to begin.

Chloe and Alek sat down at one of the tables that were in the front, the closest to the stage. The only other truly familiar face at the table was Valentina's. Amy, Paul, Jasmine, Eric and Meredith all sat at the table behind them. If she needed to, Chloe could just lean back and easily have a conversation with Amy.

There were some officials at their table, so Chloe was aware that the atmosphere would be more of a business-like one than the relaxed kind that she was looking forward to, but dinner wasn't supposed to last for too long.

While the atmosphere was that of business, the conversation most definitely was not. The topics spoken of ranged from the weather (yes, that's how dull the conversation started out being) to the latest Britney Spears single (which surprised both Alek and Chloe that men in their fifties and sixties actually listened to her, let alone enjoyed the songs).

Finally, the speeches had been made and dinner was over, leaving the rest of the evening to be used as a time for dancing and merely socializing. Some people were even prepared to leave, but Alek and Chloe were not one of them. They, instead, decided to dance, remembering that first time when Alek attempted to teach Chloe how to tango.

She didn't fail, which was good, but Alek did end up giving Chloe a few more lessons. Although that was more of an excuse to hold Chloe than to actually teach her how to dance, even though he stopped needing excuses a _long _time ago.

The dance that was being performed wasn't exactly the tango, but it was the waltz, which was such a gracious dance and always made Chloe feel as if she and Alek were lost in their own world as the cautiously spun around the room.

"I love you," Chloe whispered suddenly, just because she felt like she had gone too long without saying that to him. Even though she's said it at least five times since they've arrived.

"I love you." Even after all of these years, Alek still refused to add the "too", making Chloe melt into his arms, figuratively at the moment.

They waltzed around the room for a little bit longer, making some couples around them envious at their grace. Eventually, they grew tired and just wanted to sit down and enjoy each other's company.

They took a seat at their table, one that had been emptied of unwanted businessmen, and just sat for a while, exchanging a few words but mostly just enjoying the company of the other.

"Chloe, do you want to head home?" Alek asked, sensing that his fiancé was growing quite tired.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Chloe muttered, getting ready to stand up and leave. "Oh! But can we walk home instead of taking the car? It's not _that_ far of a walk."

Chloe had this expression on her face that made her seem so alive and so childlike and adorable that Alek simply didn't have the heart to refuse her. He'd even carry her home if it came to that.

"Of course. Come on, love." Alek stood up and offered Chloe his hand. In this manner, they bid their farewells and left the building.

The hotel in which the event had been held was right across the street from the water. The two lovers made their way across the road and began to walk along the railing that prevented them from falling into the water. In front of them, they could the Golden Gate Bridge, illuminated with lights, making it actually seem golden.

They had their hands clasped together and walked in silence. But in this silence, everything that needed to be was spoken. They could walk for hours together and never be bored, with or without a conversation. This all just told them what they already knew: they were made for each other.

Chloe abruptly stopped and tugged Alek towards the ledge, leaning on it.

"Let's just stay here for a moment, can we?" Chloe asked, looking up into Alek's eyes, knowing that he wouldn't be able to refuse her.

It's not like he was planning on doing so anyways.

Alek leaned on the ledge next to Chloe. They stood still there for a bit, admiring the view. It was magnificent, truly. You would never think that San Francisco could look as beautiful as it did in the moment, and that really was saying something.

Alek looked to his left to admire Chloe, who was completely oblivious to his current admiration. She was leaning on the railing and staring off into the distance. Her arms were crossed at the wrist, giving Alek the perfect view of her engagement ring on her finger.

Her hands seemed so delicate and the diamond made them seem even more delicate, it not being the smallest of sizes. But that was an element that Alek enjoyed. He kind of liked having this feeling that Chloe needed his protection, even though he knew perfectly well that she didn't need it.

But, that ring. That ring meant so much to both Alek and Chloe. He still thought that Chloe saying "yes" to his proposal was all a dream. He would even dream about the moment he asked her sometimes, and then, once he had woken up but his eyes had remained closed, he would think to himself that what he did in the dream was a good idea and that he should propose to her like that. Thankfully, the ordeal has already been accomplished, because Alek had been nervous for weeks on end planning the proposal. His palms were damper than a lake after rain during the moment that he proposed. He would never forget the beautiful feeling of relief that washed through him when Chloe said "yes".

He loved seeing the ring on Chloe's finger. It reminded him every time that he saw it the Chloe was his and only his and that he never had to share her with any other man in the world. Well, except for Paul and Eric, of course, but that was all platonic, thank Bastet.

He noticed Chloe's hand suddenly shake and looked up at Chloe's in face in concern. When he understood that there wasn't any immediate danger near them, he realized that Chloe simply shivered and was cold.

Alek began to shrug off his jacket, but Chloe tried to stop him.

"Oh, Alek. You're so incredibly sweet, but you don't have to!" She didn't want him to be cold at her expense!

"Nonsense, love. I don't mind. In fact, I insist. You know how much I love seeing you in my clothes." Chloe blushed and turned her back towards Alek, allowing him to put on the jacket for her.

Once Chloe turned back around, she caught a proper glimpse of Alek. He had undone his bow tie so that it looked like just a thick strand of fabric around his neck. He had also unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirts, showing off his collar bone that Chloe absolutely _loved_ to look at. The wind had thrown his hair around into a sexy tousled mess from the neat and combed back hair he donned earlier in the evening. He definitely was a vision.

"Thank you." Chloe whispered. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her heard into Alek's chest and making him wrap his arms around her shoulder. She tried snuggle into him even deeper, in an attempt to keep him warm without his jacket. Alek kissed the top of her head that had rested right underneath his lips as a form of a "thank you", touched by Chloe's simple yet meaningful action.

Both looked out onto the water, admiring the view and reveling in the mere presence of the other. How either of them got so lucky, they never understood. And, in all honesty, they didn't want to.

The line "ignorance is bliss" isn't as hollow as one would think it would be. Neither of them actually wanted to explore the realm of the reasons why they supposedly didn't deserve each other, which we all know completely crap. Instead, they chose to simply stay in the clueless state of mind that they were in.

"I love you," Alek whispered into Chloe's head. The breeze carried his voice away, but Chloe still heard him loud and clear, like she did every time.

"And I love you." Chloe closed her eyes and drew an imaginary bubble around the two of them, taking them into a private world that they would revisit endless times throughout their life together.

**And that's the end! It's officially over!**

**I hope you liked it! Thank you all so much for reading this story! And for reviewing it (I'm getting around to responding…)! Thank you SO FUCKING MUCH!**

**Watch out for future one shots of mine, by the way! I already have a few ideas brewing.**

**Alrighty, I guess that's all for now. Thank you again, and bye! See you in another story **


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